Electronic voting method and system employing a printed machine readable ballot

ABSTRACT

A method and system for marking a ballot or sheet may comprise making selections in a session using an interface, e.g., including a keyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch, voice recognition apparatus, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writing recognition interface, or a combination thereof, producing a paper ballot or sheet for the session by printing the selections on a sheet form or printing a sheet form including the selections, and optionally submitting the printed paper ballot or sheet for reading the selections printed thereon. The printed ballot or sheet may include an identifier for the selected template.

This Application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/487,886 filed Jul. 17, 2006 which is a division of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/410,824 filed Apr. 10, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No.7,077,313, which is a continuation-in-pan of U.S. patent application No.10/260, 167 filed Sep. 30, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,944, whichclaims the benefit of:

-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/326,265 filed Oct. 1, 2001,    of-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/341,633 filed Dec. 19,    2001,-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/377,824 filed May 7, 2002,-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/382,033 filed May 20, 2002,-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/385,118 filed May 30, 2002,-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/389,635 filed Jun. 17,    2002, and-   U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/403,151 filed Aug. 12,    2002.

The present invention relates to a voting method and system, and, inparticular, to a voting method and system employing a printed machinereadable sheet.

Under current election law and regulations in certain jurisdictions, apaper record of certain voter's voting selections made on a paperballot, e.g., a conventional “mark-sense” ballot, must be made andpreserved. Most commonly, a paper voting record or ballot must beutilized for absentee voting and/or for provisional voting. Absenteevoting is where a voter who will be absent from the jurisdiction orotherwise unable to be present at a designated polling location duringthe time for voting is issued a paper ballot in advance of the electionand votes by completing and submitting the paper absentee ballot byhand, mail, messenger, or other permitted means. Provisional voting iswhere a voter who is unable to establish his eligibility to vote at apolling place during an election is issued a paper ballot and ispermitted to vote thereby “provisionally,” i.e. by sealed paperprovisional ballot that is only opened and counted if the eligibility ofthe provisional voter to vote is established by election officials afterthe time for voting ends.

Irrespective of whether a jurisdiction utilizes paper ballots or moremodem electronic voting machines, absentee and provisional ballots mustbe handled separately and counted manually by election officials, i.e.apart from the votes recorded by voters voting normally (e.g., by votingmachine) in the election, and may delay the completion of tabulating thevoting results and/or the certification thereof. Certain jurisdictionseven require a paper absentee and/or provisional ballot even where theabsentee and/or provisional voting is done on an electronic (DRE) votingmachine. In addition, because the paper ballots approved for beingcounted are placed into groups so that they are anonymous for counting,there is no way for a voter to know whether his vote was counted and/orwas counted correctly.

The prevalent paper ballot is an optically read or optically scannedpaper ballot on which a voter marks his voting selections by darkeningor otherwise marking one or more regions typically indicated by anoutline in the shape of a circle, oval, rectangle, square or otherdesired closed shape. The marking areas of such conventional“mark-sense” ballots are typically arranged in discrete columns thatcorrespond to the positions of the sensors in a conventional ballotreading machine. A different paper ballot, i.e. a customized ballot, istypically required to be prepared for each election and jurisdiction,e.g., voting district or precinct. In addition, a correspondingcustomized template must be provided for each different paper ballot,thereby necessitating the manual sorting of the paper ballots by votingdistrict or precinct and the separate reading/scanning thereof for eachvoting district or precinct.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method for processing paperballots, such as optically scanned or optically read ballots, in a moreversatile and/or efficient manner and preferably one suitable for usewith a modem electronic (e.g., DRE) voting machine.

To this end, a method for marking a ballot sheet may comprise:

-   -   initiating a voting session on a voting machine and identifying        a template;    -   displaying voting selections for the voting session in        accordance with the template;    -   making voting selections in the voting session using a keyboard,        a touch screen, a button, a switch, voice recognition apparatus,        a Braille keyboard, a pen with writing recognition interface, or        a combination thereof;    -   then producing a paper ballot sheet for the voting session by        printing marks corresponding to the voting selections on a        ballot sheet form or by printing a ballot sheet form including        marks corresponding to the voting selections; and    -   submitting the printed paper ballot sheet for reading the marks        corresponding to voting selections marked thereon in accordance        with the template.

Another aspect of a method for marking a sheet may comprise:

-   -   initiating a session on a selection machine;    -   making selections in the session using a keyboard, a touch        screen, a button, a switch, voice recognition apparatus, a        Braille keyboard, a pen with writing recognition interface, or a        combination thereof;    -   then producing a paper sheet in accordance with a template for        the session by printing marks corresponding to the selections on        a sheet form or by printing a sheet form including marks        corresponding to the selections;    -   submitting the printed paper sheet for reading the selections        marked thereon in accordance with the template.

In another aspect, a system for printing selections on marking sheetsmay comprise: means for selecting a template for a selection session; aninterface including a keyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch,voice recognition apparatus, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writingrecognition interface, or a combination thereof, for displaying and formaking selections; and a printer for producing a printed marking sheetin accordance with the selected template by printing marks forselections made on a printed marking sheet form for the selectionsession or by printing a marking sheet form including marks forselections made for the selection session; wherein the printed markingsheet includes an identifier for the selected template and includesprinted marks that are machine readable and that correspond to theselections made.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention will be more easily and better understood when read inconjunction with the FIGURES of the Drawing which include:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballot intended tobe read by an optical reader;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example format for a voteridentifier (VID);

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D are schematic diagrams illustrating ageneralized example ballot intended to be read by an optical reader;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballot includingranked and/or cumulative voting that is intended to be read by anoptical reader;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an example ballot generatingapparatus;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example voting apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballot reader forreading optically read ballots of the sorts illustrated in FIGS. 1,3A-3D and 4;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of an example ballot reading processcompatible with the apparatus of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating details of a portion ofthe ballot reading process of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C are schematic diagrams of mark spaces of aballot marked in a variety of ways and of details thereof;

FIG. 11 is a schematic flow diagram of an example process for generatingthe ballots of FIGS. 1, 3A-3D and 4; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic flow diagram of an example voting processutilizing the ballot of FIGS. 1, 3A-3D and 4.

In the Drawing, where an element or feature is shown in more than onedrawing figure, the same alphanumeric designation may be used todesignate such element or feature in each figure, and where a closelyrelated or modified element is shown in a figure, the samealphanumerical designation primed may be used to designate the modifiedelement or feature. Similarly, similar elements or features may bedesignated by like alphanumeric designations in different figures of theDrawing and with similar nomenclature in the specification, but in theDrawing are followed by a character unique to the embodiment described.It is noted that, according to common practice, the various features ofthe drawing are not to scale, and the dimensions of the various featuresare arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

The arrangement of the present application operates in conjunction withan electronic voting machine, also referred to as electronic votingapparatus and/or as a direct recording electronic (DRE) votingapparatus. Suitable voting apparatus, and methods employed therewith,are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/737,306 entitled“Electronic Voting Apparatus, System and Method” filed Dec. 15, 2000 andin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/255,348 entitled “ElectronicVoting Apparatus, System and Method” filed Sep. 26, 2002, whichapplications are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example ballot 100 intended to beread by an optical reader. Ballot 100 includes four regions 110 eachcontaining information pertaining to a particular election contest orquestion and a number of marking regions or mark spaces 112 therein inwhich a voter makes a mark to select one or more voting selections forthe particular election contest or question. Mark spaces 112 may be anyconvenient closed shape and provide a defined area in a defined locationin which a voter marks his voting selections by darkening or otherwisemarking therein. Mark spaces 112 are typically indicated by an outlinein the shape of a circle, oval, rectangle, square or other desiredclosed shape. After the ballot 100 is marked by the voter, it is voted(e.g., deposited in a ballot box or otherwise submitted) and is read andtabulated, typically by a reading machine or reader that optically readsor senses the defined mark spaces to determine whether each mark space112 is marked or unmarked, thereby indicating a voting selection. Thereading machine is programed to define a “template” corresponding to thelocations on the ballot where each of the contests/questions 110 and therespective mark spaces 112 therefor are located.

In the example illustrated, a first region 110 designated “GeneralElection (1/4)” contains the names and party affiliations of candidatesfor “President and Vice President” and a mark space 112 for each set ofcandidates, as well as mark spaces 112 for a “Skip Contest” or “No Vote”(abstain) selection 114 and for a write-in candidate selection 116. Asecond region 110 designated “General Election (2/4)” contains the namesand party affiliations of candidates for “United States Representative(District 16)” and a mark space 112 for each candidate, as well as markspaces 112 for a “Skip Contest” or “No Vote” (abstain) selection 114 andfor a write-in candidate selection 116. A third region 110 designated“General Election (3/4)” contains the names and party affiliations ofcandidates for “State Senator” and a mark space 112 for each candidate,as well as mark spaces 112 for a “Skip Contest” or “No Vote” (abstain)selection 114 and for a write-in candidate selection 116. A fourthregion 110 designated “General Election (4/4)” contains a question putbefore the voters designated as “State Question 214” and a mark space112 for a “Yes” or “No” selection, as well as a mark space for a “SkipContest” or “No Vote” (abstain) selection 114.

In addition, each ballot includes a voter registration number 120, alsoknown as a voter identifier number or voter identification number,commonly abbreviated as “VID.” Identifier or VID 120 is preferablylocated at a predefined location on ballot 100, e.g., near the upperright hand corner as illustrated. VID 120 may be provided in anyconvenient machine readable format, including but not limited to a barcode, two-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font, optical characterrecognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters, non-alphanumericcharacters, symbols, and the like. Typically, however, a human-readablenumber 120N and an equivalent simple machine-readable bar code 120C aresatisfactory.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example format 380 for avoter identifier (VID) 120. VID 120 is a sequence of numbers or otheralphanumeric characters or symbols that uniquely identify a voter andprovide voting information relating to the voter that may be utilized bya voting machine or by a ballot reading machine or by electionofficials. VID format 380 includes, for example, six differentinformational fields 381-386. Field 381 includes a number of characters,typically 3, that uniquely identify the voter's state of residence andfield 382 includes a number of characters, typically 3, that uniquelyidentify the voter's county of residence. Fields 381-386 may be used forautomatic reading and tabulation of different ballots without manual orother sorting prior to their being read and tabulated, as well as forabsentee and provisional voting. While a three-digit numerical field istypical, providing up to 999 different entries, two-digit fields may beutilized where a lesser number (i.e. 99 or less) of possible entries areneeded, as in the United States where there are only 50 states. Anyfield may be of greater or lesser number of characters as is convenient.

Field 383 includes a number of characters, typically 4, that uniquelyidentify the voter's municipality of residence. Field 384 includes anumber of characters, typically 2, that uniquely identify the voter'svoting precinct or district within the county or municipality, and field385 includes a number of characters, typically 2, that uniquely identifythe voter's voting ward, if any, within the voting precinct or district.Field 386 includes a number of characters, typically 2, that uniquelyidentify the voter's political party affiliation if any has beendeclared and may be utilized for presenting the ballot of the declaredpolitical party for voting in a party primary election or for straightparty voting, where permitted.

Field 387 includes a number of characters, typically 4-10, that uniquelyidentifies the particular ballot in the applicable county, votingprecinct, district and/or ward, as the case may be. The random generatednumber, field 387, is a randomly-generated unique identifier that isprinted on a ballot prior to the election, and may or may not betraceable to the identity of a particular voter, as desired for securityand privacy. The same unique identifiers as are printed on paperballots, e.g., for absentee and/or provisional voting, may be stored ina voting machine or in a vote tabulating machine for verifying theauthenticity and uniqueness of ballot when it is tabulated.

In the United States, voting is typically conducted on a state by statebasis, and most states delegate to its counties the conduct ofelections. In local voting, i.e. voting wherein a particular votingmachine is dedicated for voting by voters of a particular county,municipality, precinct, district or ward, fields 382-385 may be utilizedby the voting machine or vote tabulating machine to verify that thevoter is using the proper ballot form before the voting session isinitiated and/or before the voting selections marked on the ballot aretabulated, e.g., in provisional voting. Typically in local voting, thevoting machine is situated in a location in a particular precinct,district or ward and voters from that particular voting precinct,district or ward come to that location to vote, and provisional and/orabsentee voters may vote using such voting machines even though theirvoting selections are then reproduced on a printed ballot, e.g., asprinted by a printer associated with the voting machine.

Data from fields 381-386 is utilized to select the voting screens and/orvoting contests to be presented on a voting machine and/or on one ormore printed ballot sheets that together comprise a proper completeelection ballot for that voter in a given election. Each voting machinemay generate on a voter-by-voter basis a complete election ballot byselectively combining, for example, a “general ballot” including one ormore voting contests 110 that are to be presented to all voters, a“residence-specific ballot” including one or more voting contests 110 tobe presented to voters according to their residence, and/or a“party-specific ballot” including one or more voting contests 110 to bepresented to voters in a party primary election according to their partyaffiliation. Thus, a voting machine and/or ballot printer is notconstrained or limited to local voting, but may be utilized forcounty-wide or state-wide or nation-wide voting, for regional voting,and/or for remote voting.

Where voters are issued a chip card or smart card containing his VIDnumber 120 and an electronic voting machine is utilized for printingpaper ballots, the voting machine is responsive to voting jurisdictioninformation 381-386 read from each voter's chip card for providing aballot to the voter and may retain the chip card for the writing of thevoter's voting selections therein and then collects the chip card in acollection container or may allow an election official to have the chipcard. Optionally, the voting machine and/or vote tabulating machine mayreject the chip card and/or the paper ballot 100 if the voterregistration information 381-386 and/or the unique identifier 387 readtherefrom do not match corresponding information stored in the votingmachine and/or vote tabulating machine, and may return or collect thechip card. In either case, the chip card once inserted into the votingmachine may be retained in a way that the voter may not retrieve thechip card, e.g., for securing the card against use to vote more thanonce. For provisional voting, the chip card may be likewise retaineduntil the voting selections of a provisional voter are stored therein,and then may be returned to the provisional voter and/or a votingofficial, e.g., with a proper authorization. Unique identifiers 387 onceused for an election may be “retired” and not used in one or moresubsequent elections as a means to reduce the likelihood of fraudulentin a future election, e.g., either as a VID number 120 and/or by acounterfeit smart card.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D are schematic diagrams illustrating ageneralized example ballot 100 intended to be read by an optical reader.Generalized ballot format 100 a of FIG. 3A has a plurality of locations112′ at which mark spaces 112 may be provided and has a region 120′ inwhich a VID number 120 may be represented. Ballot format 100 a isgeneralized in that it illustrates all possible mark space locations112′ and a relatively large region in which a VID number 120representation may be provided. An actual ballot format will typicallybe on a standardized paper, such as an 80-column machine readable cardor an 8½×11 inch or an A4 size paper, and have many more possible markspace locations 112′.

In any particular ballot 100, less than all of possible mark spacelocations 112′ will be utilized as mark spaces 112 and less than theentire region 120′ will typically be utilized for providing the VIDnumber 120 representation. Generalized ballot format 100 a represents aballot pattern from which particular ballots 100 and areas forparticular contests 110, each utilizing specific selected ones of markspace locations 112′, according to a template, may be provided.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example ballot 100 b which is provided from aballot format 100 a on which contest regions 110 are defined by dashedlines 118 in the region having the possible mark spaces 112′ and inwhich ones of possible mark spaces 112′ to be utilized for markingvoting selections are mark spaces 112 defined by solid line circles. Thedashed lines 118 defining contest regions 110 and the mark spaces 112that may be selected together define a template for ballot 100 b, i.e.define the pattern by which voting selections will be marked for each ofplural voting contests as well as the pattern by which voting selectionswill be read by a vote tabulating machine or reader for each of thevoting contests in tabulating the vote. The template of ballot 100 bdefines four contest areas 110 of the same size, with each having threeactive mark spaces 112. Each three mark space contest 110-3 might beutilized, e.g., for a contest among three candidates, or for a contestamong three candidates where mark spaces are provided for a “No Vote”selection and a write-in selection, or for a public question or other“Yes-No” response matter where a mark space is provided for a “No Vote”or “Abstain” selection.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example ballot 100A which is provided from aballot format 100A on which contest regions 110 are defined by dashedlines 118 in the region having the possible mark spaces 112′ and inwhich ones of possible mark spaces 112′ to be utilized for markingvoting selections are mark spaces 112 defined by solid line circles. Thedashed lines 118 defining contest regions 110 and the mark spaces 112that may be selected together define a template for ballot 100A, i.e.define the pattern by which voting selections will be marked andtabulated. The template of ballot 100A defines four contest areas 110 oftwo different sizes, one having five active mark spaces 112, and threehaving two mark spaces 112. The five mark space contest 110-5 might beutilized, e.g., for a contest among five candidates or for a contestamong three candidates where mark spaces are provided for a “No Vote” or“Abstain” selection and for a write-in selection. Each two-mark spacecontest 110-2 may be utilized, e.g., for a public question or other“Yes-No” response matter.

FIG. 3D illustrates a generalized example ballot 100 intended to be readby an optical reader, wherein ballot 100 includes a number oforientation indicia or fiducial marks 122 that are located inpredetermined asymmetric positions that when read by a ballot reader maybe utilized to define the orientation of ballot 100. Although only oneindicia or fiducial mark 122 is necessary to define ballot orientation,and will satisfactorily define the orientation of ballot 100 for readingby an automatic ballot reader, plural (at least two or more) indicia orfiducial marks 122 are preferred so that the orientation of ballot 100may be determined even when ballot 100 is not properly and preciselyaligned for reading by a ballot reader and so that the scale of theballot may be determined.

In particular, orientation indicia or fiducial mark 122 a near the uppercorner of ballot 100 and orientation indicia or fiducial marks 122 b and122 c near the lower edge, e.g., near the right-hand and left-handcorners of ballot 100 define the orientation of ballot 100 and, becausethe predetermined positional locations of indicia or fiducial marks 122a, 122 b and 122 c are precisely known, i.e. they are spaced apart apredetermined distance, orientation indicia or fiducial marks 122 alsodefine the scale and/or size of ballot 100. Further, each mark space 112is in a predetermined position relative to indicia or fiducial marks122, and so the relative locations of all mark spaces 112, as well asany other location on ballot 100, can be determined from fiducial marks122, whether or not a mark space 112 has been marked. Where ballots areimaged, the positions of each indicia or fiducial mark 122 and of eachmark space 112 is defined in the same coordinate system as are thepixels of the ballot image, e.g., in X-Y coordinates, thereby tofacilitate the “reading” of the ballot via its ballot image, e.g. todetermine which mark spaces 112 are marked to indicate a votingselection.

Comparing the predetermined relative positions and/or spacings ofindicia or fiducial marks 122 with the imaged positions thereof permitsthe scale/size of the ballot image and the position of each mark space112 to be determined. This is helpful for normalizing the ballot imageprovided by the ballot reader as well as for locating the properpositions of ballot identifier 120 and of marking areas 112 as definedby the appropriate ballot template. Scaling and/or normalizing the sizeof the ballot image can be utilized to compensate for small changes inthe size of ballots, e.g., due to stress, moisture content and the like,thereby to avoid any inaccuracy that might otherwise result therefrom.

Suitable indicia or fiducial marks include, for example, cross-hairlines, cross-hair lines in a circle, targets, bulls-eye shapes, bullets,“+” marks, “X” marks, boxes, any of the foregoing with one or moreblack, darkened or contrasting adjacent sections, and/or any combinationthereof. Symmetrical indicia or fiducial marks that uniquely definetheir own center are preferred. Indicia or fiducial marks 122 and/or thepattern thereof may be standardized for all ballots and/or may bedifferent for different ballots and defined by the ballot templatetherefor. Indicia or fiducial marks 122 may located be any location(s)suitable for defining the orientation, and preferably also defining thescale/size, of ballot 100. To this end, an odd-number of indicia orfiducial marks 122 disposed in an asymmetric pattern are preferred.Where a two-sided or plural sheet ballot is utilized, each sheet and/orside includes marking indicia or fiducial marks 122.

In addition, where a ballot is too long to be provided on one ballotsheet, plural sheets may be provided with a page number identifier oneach sheet that is read and utilized to select the proper ballot sheettemplate or to determine the portion of a selected ballot templateapplicable to each ballot sheet. Preferably, page number identifiers arehuman-readable and machine-readable, such as a numeral in a font easilyread by a computer reader. Further, so-called “summary” ballots may beutilized wherein the candidates and questions are provided in a booklet,and each candidate and/or response is identified in the booklet by anumber; in this case, the mark spaces 112 of the summary ballot are eachassociated with one of the numbers set forth in the booklet. Inaddition, a candidate name and/or response selection (e.g., a “yes” or“no”) may be printed on the summary ballot with the number.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballot 100including ranked and/or cumulative voting that is intended to be read byan optical reader. Ballot 100 includes a plurality of contest areas 110(each having a region wherein “NAME and other features of the contest”information identifying the particular contest is placed and whereinmark spaces for selecting a candidate are placed) and also includes aVID area 120, as described above. Any one or more contest areas 110 maybe utilized for straight voting, for ranked voting and/or for cumulativevoting, as may be the case for a particular election and/or contest.

A first contest area 110-R is arranged for conducting ranked votingwherein the voter may rank the candidates in his order of preference. Inthis example, five candidates may be ranked. Filling one mark space 112indicates first choice ranking, filling two mark spaces 112 indicatessecond choice ranking, and so forth. The opposite sense, where marking agreater number of mark spaces for a candidate indicates a greaterpreference, could also be utilized. Thus, five mark spaces 112 areassociated with each candidate's name and with each write-in candidateposition 116. Optionally and/or alternatively, plural mark spaces may beassociated with rank numbers (e.g., a “1” mark space for first choice, a“2” mark space for second choice, a “3” mark space for third choice, andso forth) for each candidate in a contest.

Ranked voting may be utilized for conducting an “instant run-off” whereno candidate or an insufficient number of candidates receives sufficientfirst-choice votes to be elected (e.g., fails to receive a majority ofthe votes cast) under the election rules in effect. If no candidates winor fewer than the required number win, a run-off election is required.Conventionally the run-off election occurs later in time and incurs theexpense of conducting a second election. In an instant run off, socalled because the voting needed for the run off are cast in the initialelection and so are immediately (“instantly”) available. In an instantrun-off election, candidate(s) receiving the least first choice votesare eliminated and the voters'second choice rankings of candidates otherthan those eliminated are then counted to determine the winner(s). Onemark space 112 is provided to skip the entire contest and/or to abstain114 for the balance of that contest, i.e. to intentionally under vote.The voting apparatus and ballots described herein permit an instantrun-off election to be conducted automatically and electronically if nowinner emerges from the initial voting.

A second contest area 110-C of ballot 100 is arranged for conductingcumulative voting wherein the voter may distribute a given number ofvotes among the candidates in his order of preference, typically wheremore than one candidate is to be elected in a given contest. Cumulativevoting allows the voter to distribute his vote among any one or more ofthe candidates rather than being limited to voting for or not voting foreach candidate equally, as in straight voting. In this example, fivevotes may be cast (five mark spaces 112 may be marked) in the contestand the five votes may be cast for any one or more candidates. Fillingmore mark spaces 112 for a candidate indicates a greater number ofvotes, and thus a greater preference, for that candidate. Thus, fivemark spaces 112 are associated with each candidate's name and with eachwrite-in candidate 116. One mark space 112 is provided to skip theentire contest and/or to abstain 114 for the balance of that contest,i.e. to intentionally under vote.

Alternatively to providing plural mark spaces 112 for each candidate forconducting ranked and/or cumulative voting, mark space 112 may bearranged as a seven-segment mark space 112′ wherein selected ones of theseven segment spaces thereof may be marked to define a numeral. Forexample, marking the two vertical segments at the left or at the rightindicates the number “1”, marking the top, middle and bottom horizontalsegments and the upper right and lower left vertical segments indicatesthe number “2”, marking all seven segments indicated the number “8”, andso forth, in like manner to illuminating selected segments of aseven-segment display to display numbers.

The two remaining contest areas 110 of ballot 100 are examples ofstraight voting for two different example contests, one in which twocandidates of eleven are to be elected and the other in which onecandidate is to be elected. Ballot 100 may include, and preferably doesinclude plural positional indicia 122 as described above in relation toFIG. 3D.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an example ballot generatingapparatus 200. Apparatus 200 includes a processor for generating ballots100 from information provided thereto either by election officialsentering contest information, candidate information and the like, i.e.for generating ballot form and/or formats for particular jurisdictionsand/or sub-divisions thereof. The processor may be the processorincluded in an electronic voting machine that includes ballot generatingcapability, such as the VOTE-TRAKKER™ direct recording electronic votingmachine available from Avante International Technology, Inc. located inPrinceton Junction, N.J., described in patent applications Ser. Nos.09/737,306 and 10/255,348, or may be a computer running suitable ballotgenerating software.

Ballot printer BP may be a conventional ballot printer that printsballots provided it is capable of printing the VID number 120 inmachine- and/or human readable form and of printing the unique randomportion of the VID 120, or may be a printer associated with votingmachine VM. The actual format of ballots 100 will be in conformance tothe applicable federal, state, county, and/or local legal requirementsfor election ballots, as is the case for conventional optically-scannedballots. Thus, standardized paper sizes, e.g., 8½×11 inches or 8½×14inches or A4 metric paper, may be utilized, and single-page ballotrequirements, minimum font size standards, candidate ballot spacestandards, and the like, will be met, in a customized and/orconventional ballot format. For example, ballots 100 may be conventionalballots such as a Scantron ballot, which has an array of 48×80elliptical mark spaces on fixed grid pattern on an 8½×11 inch paperballot, onto which is added VID number 120 in machine- and/orhuman-readable form as described herein.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example voting apparatus VM asshown and described in patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and10/255,348 incorporated herein. Voting machine VM includes a processor Pfor processing information relative to a voter and/or voting and forproviding a voting session identifier, a non-volatile memory M forstoring and providing such information, a display unit DU for displayinginformation to the voter, and a voter interface VI whereby the voter canenter information into voting machine VM for processor P and/or memoryM. It is noted that the components of voting machine VM are similar tothe components of a personal computer and so a conventional personalcomputer, with or without modification, may be utilized in votingmachine VM, although it is likely that conventional computer components,particularly processor P and memory M, may be utilized in conjunctionwith displays DU and input devices VI adapted to or customized for thevoting machine application, for example, for ruggedness, resistance totampering and/or abuse. In addition, processor P includes a function forproviding unique voting session identifiers for each voting session, forexample, a random-number or random-character generator RAG or a look-uptable or other suitable generator. Voter interface VI may be a touchscreen and so would provide display DU and a keyboard.

Memory M may also be of any suitable non-volatile memory type. Suitablememory devices include floppy disks, computer hard disk drives,writeable optical disks, memory cards, memory modules and flash memorymodules (such as those utilized in electronic cameras), magnetic andoptical tapes and disks, as well as semiconductor memories such asnon-volatile random-access memory (RAM), programmable read-only memory(PROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)and the like. Memory M or a separate memory contains the operatingsystem, data base and application software that operates processor P asvoting machine VM.

Alternatively, various programming information, a voting sessionidentifier generator or list, voting information, candidate and officeinformation and the like may be provided in firmware, such as in anEPROM, which provides additional resistance to tampering and/or hackingattack. Such firmware may be utilized, for example, for controlling thereading and writing of information to optional smart cards SC, thestoring of voting record information in memory M, particularly, aspecific memory device such as a memory chip card, an optical disk ortape, or other electronic, magnetic or optical media. Preferably, memoryM of voting machine VM includes two independent non-volatile memorydevices so that voting record information and a voting sessionidentifier are stored on two separate, independent memory devices forredundancy and preservation of at least one copy of the accumulatedvoting records in the event one of the memory devices fails or otherwisebecomes inoperative. Desirably, the two non-volatile memories are ofdifferent types, such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk, or amemory card and an optical disk, or any other convenient combination.

Voter interface VI may be a standard or custom keyboard, as mayfacilitate write-in voting, or may be dedicated vote buttons or switchessimilar to conventional mechanical voting machines, for example, or maybe a touch-screen interface associated with display unit DU, and istypically connected to processor P via cabling. Special keys can beprovided for voting functions such as “Elect” or “Select” or “Vote,” orfor “Erase” or “Change,” or for “Write-in.” Alternative voter interfacesVI may include voice recognition apparatus, Braille keyboards or pensystems with writing recognition interfaces, each preferably withconfirmation of the data entered displayed on display unit DU or evenaurally via headphones. For a “standard” computer keyboard, for example,it is preferred that the “function keys,” i.e. those keys that can beused for a purpose other than voting, such as to access and/or controlthe operating system and other programs, e.g., the F1-F12 keys, bedisabled or rendered inoperative, either by software control or physicalmeans.

In addition, a voter interface VI for allowing visually impaired votersto vote without assistance may employ a modified standard keyboard ofwhich only certain keys are responded to in combination with an auraldevice. E.g., only the four keys (buttons) at the corners of a numerickeypad or the four areas (buttons) in the four corners of a touch screenmay be enabled to indicate possible selections such as vote, skip, next,previous, and the like, with audible voice instructions and confirmationof buttons pressed provided via a headphone. A typical functionassignment to the corner keys can include: upper right key=“repeat” (tohear voice message again), lower right key=“Enter” (to make a selectionwithin the allotted time), lower left key=“Cast Vote” (and proceed tothe next contest), and upper right key=“Increase Speed” (to increase therate at which contests and/or voice indications are presented). Any orall of these functional keys may be exaggerated in size or otherwisemade easily distinguished by tactile feel. Such keyboard/buttonprogramming is commonly provided by software.

Display unit DU may be of any suitable type, such as a conventionalcathode ray tube or computer display, an LCD display, a touch-screendisplay or other suitable device, for displaying alphanumeric and/orgraphical information, or a set of illuminated buttons, as desired, andis typically connected to processor P via cabling. Display unit DU mayalso include Braille devices, aural information via headphones, or otherdevices specially suited for people with handicaps.

Operatively associated with or coupled to processor P and memory M are aprinter LP for providing a tangible record of the voting session, e.g.,a printed paper receipt and an optional smart card reader/writer RW forwriting and/or reading information from/to a smart card. Preferably,local printer LP and optional reader/writer RW are built into thephysical container VMC of voting machine VM along with processor P,memory or memories M, display DU and voter interface VI, and thatphysical container VMC is rugged and sealable for security and toprevent unauthorized access to the components therein, thereby beingresistant to tampering. Other voting booth components, such as a privacycurtain, the opening and closing mechanism therefor, or a floor stand,need not be part of voting machine container VMC, but may be permanentlyor demountably attached thereto as is convenient.

Optional smart card reader/writer RW is operatively associated with orcoupled to processor P and memory M for writing information including atleast a unique voting session identifier and a voting record into thememory of a smart card SC and optionally for reading information, suchas voter registration and/or identifying information, from a smart card.Each voting session identifier is a randomly-generated uniqueidentifying or serial number or character sequence (e.g., apseudo-random number) of at least eight characters or digits, andpreferably of 12 or more characters or digits. Such voting sessionidentifiers are generated for each voting session of each election,either centrally and then loaded into memories M of voting machines VMor by processor P as each voter participates in a voting session. It maybe desirable for the voting session identifiers to include additionalcharacters identifying voting district and/or the polling place and/orthe voting machine VM on which the vote associated with the identifyingnumber was cast, and/or the date and time of the voting session, but notthe voter, so as to preserve voter anonymity while providingtraceability of voting records. If any information particular to anindividual voter is stored in the memory of smart card SC, as may be thecase where information confirming voter registration or an identifyingPIN number, security code or other personal data is utilized, suchinformation is written over or erased or otherwise rendered permanentlyunrecoverable either before or at the time that voting record and votingsession identifier information is stored in the memory of smart card SCby reader/writer RW of voting machine VM.

For optical ballot voting, voting machine VM generates a ballot format100 for a particular jurisdiction, for example, according to apre-programmed ballot information and/or in response to the votingjurisdiction information corresponding to the voter's VID number (fields381-386) as entered via voter interface VI and/or a smart card andreader RW, as the case may be. The ballot format is generated byprocessor P as described above and in incorporated patent applicationsSer. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/255,348, with a format layout for contests110 consistent with local election requirements rather than as a seriesof voting screens. Ballot 100 so generated is printed by printer LP andis provided to the voter, e.g., by hand for provisional voting and/or bymail for absentee voting. Ballots 100 may be printed in advance of anelection and/or may be printed during an election on a demand, i.e. asneeded, basis.

If reader/writer RW is a contact-type reader for use with contact-typesmart cards, then the smart card SC is inserted into slot S thereof tobe read and/or written to. If reader/writer RW is a wireless orcontact-less-type reader for use with wireless or contact-less-typesmart cards, then the smart card SC is placed proximate to antenna AN ofreader/writer RW to be read from and/or written to. If reader/writer RWis of a type for use with both contact-type and wireless or contact-less-type smart cards, then the smart card SC is inserted into slot S if itis a contact-type smart card and is placed proximate to antenna AN if itis a wireless-type smart card, or is either inserted into slot S or isplaced proximate antenna AN if it is a so-called “combos-card” thatcombines both external contacts and an internal antenna so that it canbe read from or written to either via contacts or a wirelesscommunication.

Further, while optional smart card encoder RW need only be able to writeinformation to a smart card, it may also read information stored in asmart card SC and provide same to processor P. Reader/writer RW may alsobe a decoder to decode information read from a smart card SC inencrypted or encoded form, and/or may also be a coder that encrypts orencodes information being written to the smart card SC. Such encryptionand/or encoding may use public key encryption or any other suitableencryption and/or coding arrangement. Optionally, and preferably,reader/writer RW may include a “take-in” or capture mechanism that grabssmart card SC when it is inserted into slot S and, after the votingrecord and voting session identifier information is stored in the memoryof smart card SC, deposits smart card SC into a secure collection box CBoperatively associated with reader/writer RW and located in votingmachine cabinet VMC. If this option is utilized, and it may be utilizedwith either contact-type or wireless smart cards SC, a separatecollection box CB and action by each voter to deposit his or her smartcard SC therein is not needed.

Local printer LP may provide a tangible independent record of eachindividual voter's voting selections associated with the voter's uniqueidentifying number and/or may be utilized to print ballots 100. PrinterLP if utilized for printing voting receipts is of a type that retains norecord of the data printed (e.g., is not a daisy wheel or other printeremploying a ribbon or other sheet-type ink source from which informationprinted may be extracted or reconstructed) such as a thermal printer, adot matrix printer, an ink-jet printer, a bubble jet printer, a laserprinter and the like, which are conventional. A specialty orsecurity-type of paper, or other medium making authentication of aprinted receipt and/or a printed ballot 100 easier and counterfeiting ofaltering of same more difficult, can be utilized, thereby reducing thelikelihood of counterfeiting or fraud. Desirably, printer LP also printsinformation identifying the election district, the date and time ofvoting and similar information that may help to authenticate printedreceipt PR and/or optical ballot 100.

The preferred VOTE-TRAKKER™ voting system and apparatus as illustratedby FIG. 4 is provided in incorporated patent applications Ser. Nos.09/737,306 and 10/255,348. Desirably, the VOTE-TRAKKER™ voting systemand apparatus provides redundancy for voting record and voting sessionidentifier data in that each vote is recorded by at least one additionalindependent and verifiable means: to wit, by electronic recording in thememory of a smart card separate from the voting machine and the printedrecord. This apparatus, and the method it performs, can provide 100%transparency of each and every vote and can maintain 100% privacy andconfidentiality of each and every voter and vote, although otherembodiments may not do so.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example ballotreader apparatus 1000 for reading machine-readable ballots 100. Ballotreader apparatus 1000 includes reading device 1010 that has an inputcontainer 1020 into which ballots 100 to be read are placed for beingfed through transport path 1030 to an output container 1040 into whichballots 100 that have been read as they pass through transport path 1030are deposited, i.e. are collected. Therebetween, ballot transport path1030 defines a path through which ballots 100 are transported for beingread as they are transported between input container 1020 and outputcontainer 1040. Transport path 1030 includes two readers 1031 and 1032of reader device 1010 which read the information and/or markings onballots 100 as they pass thereby. Preferably, ballots 100 areoptically-read ballots 100 of the sorts illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3A-3Dand readers 1031 and 1032 are optical readers. Member 1034 may be aguide for transport path 1030 that also provides a light shield foroptical readers 1031, 1032.

It is noted that conventional optical readers have only one opticalreader and must be preprogrammed with a template corresponding to theparticular ballots to be passed therethrough and read, and so theballots must be sorted by jurisdiction and the like so that only ballotsof the same form, i.e. of the form that corresponds to the preprogrammedtemplate, are passed through to be read at any one time. Ballots ofdifferent format must be passed through as separate batches after thecorresponding template therefor has been programmed into the opticalreader. Even if a conventional optical reader were to have two opticalreaders, both optical readers thereof would be programmed for readingthe ballots against the same preprogrammed template, i.e. would be formaking redundant readings for verifying the correctness of eitherreading against one predetermined preprogrammed template.

On the other hand, reader 1010 includes two readers 1031 and 1032 and aprocessor 1050 that cooperate for reading ballots 100 of different formswithout the need to pre-sort the ballots into groups of like form.Specifically, optical reader 1031 reads ballots 100 for reading the VIDnumber 120 thereon and communicates the VID number 120 to processor1050. Reader 1031 need not read any other part of ballots 100. Processor1050 is responsive to the VID number 120 read from each ballot 100 byreader 1031 to identify and select the ballot template correspondingthereto. Optical reader 1032 reads ballots 100 for reading the markspaces 112 thereon that have been marked for comparison in accordancewith the ballot template selected by processor 1050.

The VID number 120 read from each ballot 100 by reader 1031 shouldinclude at least the jurisdictional information fields thereof, e.g.,fields 381-386, utilized to identify and select the ballot template.Optical reader 1031 should also read the unique random number field,e.g., field 387, so that the unique random number portion of VID 120 isassociated with the stored voting selection information and is availablefor later verification of the ballot and/or of the correct readingthereof, as well as for tracking of his vote by the voter, e.g., via anInternet or other posting, as described herein. Where VID 120 is onballot 100 in two different forms, e.g., in machine-readable form and inhuman-readable form, reader 1000 may have the ability to read both formsof VID 120, e.g., a bar-code reader and an OCR reader, usually inprocessor 1050.

Reader 1032 need not read portions of ballot 100 other than thosecontaining valid mark spaces 112 according to the template correspondingto that ballot. The unnecessary portions of ballot 100 not containingvalid mark spaces 112 may either not be read or may be read and thendiscarded while retaining the readings of mark spaces 112. Only imagesof the VID and mark space zones need be obtained and stored fortabulating and/or verifying voting by vote counter 1060. Images of theVID and mark space zones may be stored in any suitable electronic formatincluding but not limited to .BMP, .TIFF, .PDF or any other suitableformat. In this way, the amount of storage capacity needed to store theinformation read from each ballot is substantially reduced because thestandardized information, e.g., names of contests, names of candidates,and the like, are not stored.

As a result, ballots 100 placed into input container 1020 do not have tobe pre-sorted to be of the same format, but may be of different formatsbecause readers 1031, 1032 in cooperation with processor 1050 determinethe proper template to be utilized for reading each ballot 100 accordingto its format. Specifically, because the information in fields 381-386of each VID number 120 printed on each ballot 100 define the particularvoting jurisdiction (e.g., state, county, municipality, precinct, wardand/or political party), they also define the form of ballot 100 forsuch jurisdiction. From the VID number 120 read by optical reader 1031,processor 1050 determines the jurisdiction and the ballot form thereforand supplies the template therefor for use in conjunction with thepattern of mark spaces 112 marked on ballot 100 for determining thevoting selections made thereon.

Simply put and by way of example, reader 1031 reads the VID number 120from a first ballot 100 of form A and signals same to processor 1050which then provides the mark space template for ballots 100 of form Afor reading the marked voting selections from first ballot 100 read byoptical reader 1032. The marked voting selections read by reader 1032are then tabulated as votes by vote counter 1060. Next, reader 1031reads the VID number 120 from a second ballot 100 of form B and signalssame to processor 1050 which then provides the mark space template forballots 100 of form B for reading the marked voting selections fromsecond ballot 100 read by optical reader 1032, which read marked votingselections are then tabulated as votes by vote counter 1060. Next,reader 1031 reads the VID number 120 from a third ballot 100 of form Cand signals same to processor 1050 which then provides the mark spacetemplate for ballots 100 of form C for reading the marked votingselections from third ballot 100 read by optical reader 1032, which readmarked voting selections are then tabulated as votes by vote counter1060. If the next ballot is of form B, for example, reader 1031 readsthe VID number 120 from that ballot 100 of form B and signals same toprocessor 1050 which then provides the mark space template for ballots100 of form B for reading the marked voting selections from that ballot100 read by optical reader 1032, which read marked voting selections arethen tabulated as votes by vote counter 1060, and so forth. The processrepeats for each ballot read by reader 1000 wherein the template foreach ballot is selected by processor 1050 responsive to the VID number120 read from that ballot, i.e., specifically responsive to thejurisdictional information defined in fields 121-127 of VID number 120.

Accordingly, an optical reader for reading paper ballots having ajurisdiction identifier thereon and having voting selections markedthereon, comprises a transport path for transporting paper ballotsbetween an input and an output thereof; a first optical reader forreading the jurisdiction identifier of each paper ballot transported onthe transport path, and a second optical reader for reading the votingselections marked on each paper ballot transported on the transportpath. A processor receives the jurisdiction identifier read by the firstoptical reader for each paper ballot for selecting a template forreading in accordance with the selected template the voting selectionsmarked on each paper ballot, whereby the voting selections marked oneach paper ballot are read in accordance with a template correspondingto the jurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.

In addition and optionally, processor 1050 may include optical characterrecognition (OCR) software to provide alphanumeric outputs of theinformation in the VID field read by reader 1031 and/or of write-ininformation in the write-in portions of the voting fields read by reader1032 according to the template selected by processor 1050. It ispreferred that reader 1000 move ballots through transport path 1030 atthe rate of at least about 10-12 inches per second (about 25-30 cm/sec.)so that ballots on either 8½×11 inch paper and/or on A4 paper may beread at a rate of at least about one ballot per second. It is alsopreferred that readers 1031 and 1032 have a resolution of at least about100 dpi or greater, and it is desirable in some cases that reader 1000provide dual-side document scanning.

Reader 1000 may be utilized at a polling place or other voting locationfor “checking” ballots marked by voters prior to their being voted, i.e.officially deposited into a collection container. In this case, votecounter 1060 is eliminated and no record of the actual voting selectionsmarked is retained; processor 1050 processes only the VID number 120 andthe mark space 112 regions to select the corresponding ballot templateand to verify that the proper number of mark spaces have been marked foreach contest and/or question.

Reader 1000 in checking a ballot preferably signals or otherwiseprovides a notice or indication if a ballot is under voted (i.e. lessthan the required number of spaces have been marked for eachcontest/question) or is over voted (i.e. more than the required numberof spaces have been marked for each contest/question, which mayinvalidate a vote in a contest/question or may invalidate an entireballot) or is otherwise incorrectly marked. Ballot checking may beutilized with straight voting, ranked voting, and/or cumulative votingsimilarly, e.g., indicating if improper ranking has been marked and/orif the wrong number of cumulative votes have been marked. While suchchecking function advances the goal that ballots reflect voter intent,it can reduce but not eliminate under voting and over voting; however,it will at least give the voter an opportunity to correct such conditionor at least indicate an intentional “no vote” if a “No Vote” or“Abstain” mark space 112 is marked.

Ballot checking may avoid or at least mitigate the condition where theintent of the voter cannot be determined because under and over votingcan be reduced and/or eliminated. However, where applicable law allows,under and over voting in cumulative voting contests may be adjustedand/or rectified when the ballot is counted by applying proportioningand/or normalizing rules to the votes actually cast by marking markspaces, e.g., by adding or subtracting a proportionate weighted vote.Ballot checking may be preformed by a reader 1000 or by an other ballotreader such as a ballot imager based on commercial office imagingequipment.

Reader 1000 utilized for ballot checking may also have a printerassociated therewith for providing a tangible voting record, e.g., aprinted receipt, to each voter, as described in patent applications Ser.Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/255,348. Desirably, such printed receipt includesthe complete VID 120 including the unique random portion 381 so that thevoter may track and verify his vote where the voting results areavailable via an Internet and/or other posting including the VID.Preferably, the VID read from the read ballot is printed on the receipt.If the receipt includes a record of the voter's voting selections, thereceipt also provides an immediate confirmation that the ballot can beread and of the voting selections marked, whereby the voter may seekcorrection of any error and/or omission prior to voting his ballot.

While the reader arrangement described in the immediately precedingparagraphs is preferred, optical ballots 100 including a VID number asdescribed herein may be sorted and read by conventional readers in theconventional manner, assuming, of course, that the election officialsare willing and able to sort the paper ballots into groups of like formand to program the conventional readers for each particular ballot formbefore running ballots of that form therethrough for counting. Ballotreaders as described herein may utilize all or part of conventionalballot readers and/or may utilize parts of conventional office equipmentsuch as copiers, scanners, facsimile (fax) machines, and othercommercial imaging and/or scanning devices, and the like, e.g., forimaging and/or optically reading the information contained on anoptically-readable paper ballot.

Examples of conventional ballot readers include the SCANMARK ES2800reader available from Scantron located in Tustin, Calif. It is notedthat such conventional ballot readers employ sensors positioned on afixed grid pattern (e.g., in columns) corresponding to the fixed gridpattern of the mark-sense spaces of the ballot sheets with which theyare utilized, and such readers do not image a ballot and so they cannotidentify or determine pixel density and/or location as may be done for atrue ballot image as described herein. An example of a conventionaloptical image scanner includes the PAGESCAN II reader available fromPeripheral Dynamics, Inc. located in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. It is notedthat this scanner can provide an image of a ballot or other document orsheet, and can be programmed to define multiple image areas. Examples ofcommercial imaging scanners include types DR5020 and DR5080 availablefrom Canon Electronics, Inc. located in Japan, and type IS330DCavailable from Ricoh Company located in Japan. Examples of commercialprinters suitable for ballot printing include the ImageRUNNER 600 and105 available from Canon Electronics, Inc., and similar equipmentavailable from Hewlett Packard of Palo Alto, Calif. and Fujitsu ofJapan.

In addition, a “trial” ballot reader is preferably provided at eachpolling place so that a voter has the opportunity to have his votedballot scanned privately and to have the voting selections readtherefrom be displayed to him privately so that the correctness thereofmay be confirmed before the ballot is cast. Preferably, the trial ballotscanner should employ the same reading apparatus and method as theballot scanners that will read the ballot in counting and tabulating thevote. In any event, the trail ballot reader should be “read only” andhave no memory or ability to store or transmit the voting selectionsfrom any ballot, whether by template and/or image, thereby to assureprivacy. I.e. it is for vote checking only.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of an example ballot reading process300 compatible with the apparatus of FIG. 7. Process 300 commences withpassing 310 the voted ballots through a ballot reader, e.g., along atransport path of an optical scan reader, wherein the ballots do notneed to be, but may be, sorted according to jurisdictions and/or ballotformats. The ballots are individually and serially read/imaged and thevoting information thereon is read/decoded via either of alternativeprocesses 320 a or 320 b. Path 320 a comprises imaging 321 each ballotand then decoding the voting selection information thereon in twodecoding steps 323, 327. Path 320 b comprises reading the ballots in twosteps 322, 326, wherein the voting selection information is read insecond reading step 326. In either path, the ballot template (e.g., aset of computer instructions and/or statements and/or data defining apattern of ballot mark spaces for a ballot) for reading/decoding thevoting information is selected responsive to the voting identifierand/or ballot identifier read/decoded in the first reading/decoding step322, 323.

Ballot imaging process 320 a comprises imaging 321 the ballot to acquirean image of the voting information thereon and then decoding 323 aballot identifier (e.g., VID) from the ballot image. While the entireballot identifier (e.g., VID) may be decoded, only that portion thereofthat contains jurisdiction information (e.g., ones of fields 381-386)need be decoded; decoding the unique random identifier portion (e.g.,field 387) is optional). The decoded identifier correlates to aparticular ballot format represented by a ballot template, and theballot template corresponding to the decoded identifier is selected 325from a database or other collection and/or set of ballot templates fordecoding 327. the voting selection information from the ballot imagepreviously imaged 321. Thus, each ballot of a mixed set of ballots isread (decoded) according to a template corresponding to the particularballot format to obtain the voting selection information thereon.

Ballot imaging process 320 b comprises reading 322 the ballot to read aballot identifier (e.g., VID) thereon, typically in a predefinedlocation, area or region of the ballot. While the entire ballotidentifier (e.g., VID) may be read, only that portion thereof thatcontains jurisdiction information (e.g., ones of fields 381-386) need beread; reading the unique random identifier portion (e.g., field 387) isoptional). The read identifier correlates to a particular ballot formatrepresented by a ballot template, and the ballot template correspondingto the read identifier is selected 324 from a database or othercollection and/or set of ballot templates for reading 326 the votingselection information from the ballot. While the entire ballot may beread 326, only that portion containing voting selection informationaccording to the selected template 324 need be read. Thus, each ballotof a mixed set of ballots is read according to a template correspondingto the particular ballot format to obtain the voting selectioninformation thereon.

It is noted that the foregoing reading/imaging 321, 322, 323, 326, 327of the VID and voting selections, and the template selecting 324, 325,and/or the tabulating 330 and storing 332, may be performed in“real-time” as each ballot is read, i.e., the voting selections areread/decoded, stored 332 and tabulated 330 substantiallycontemporaneously with the ballot passing through reader 1010.Alternatively, the VID and voting selections read/imaged 321, 322, 326may be stored in “real-time” as each ballot passes through reader 1010,and the template selecting 324, 325, the decoding/reading 322, 323, 326,327 of the stored VID and voting selections, and the tabulating 330 andstoring 332 thereof may be performed after some or all of the ballotshave passed through reader 1010, i.e. delayed in time.

It is further noted that in reading ballot 100, it is preferred that theballot image be read/decoded 326, 327 to determine whether or not all ofthe mark spaces 112 as defined 324, 325 by the appropriate ballottemplate, and the indicia 122, if any, are present in the ballot image,thereby to enable detection of an anomalous and/or erroneous ballot 100,and/or to detect that a ballot 100 is, e.g., folded, torn, altered orotherwise incomplete or incorrect. Where an indicia 122 is employed todefine the orientation of each ballot and a VID is employed to definethe ballot form, the ballots may be in any order and orientation, theballots need not be sorted by jurisdiction and/or voting district or thelike and need not be placed in a given orientation prior to beingread/imaged and/or decoded 321, 322, 323, 326, 327.

The voting selection information read/decoded 326, 327 is tabulated 330for counting the vote and determining an election outcome/result. Theread/decoded 326,327 voting selection information may be stored 332,e.g., for later verification, auditing, confirmation and/or comparisonwith the paper ballots and the like, and may be printed and/or otherwisepublished 334, in whole or in part, in connection therewith. The stepsof tabulating 330, storing 332 and/or printing/publishing 334 may beeither with or without the voter identifier (e.g., VID) and/or otherballot identifier.

In addition, it is sometimes, if not usually, preferred that theprinting and/or publishing 334 of voting results be positively blockedprior to a predetermined time, e.g., prior to the end of the time forvoting. This, for example, allows absentee ballots received prior to theelection to be authenticated, read and/or tabulated prior to the end ofthe election period while the results thereof are not available untilafter the time for voting is completed. Advantageously, this may allowelection personnel to more efficiently process both absentee ballots andthe regular voted ballots.

An advantage may obtain, however, where the tabulated 330 and/or stored332 voter selection information is associated with the identifier wherethe identifier is not related and/or relatable to the identity of aparticular voter, i.e. the voter remains anonymous. In such case,particular ballots can be inspected against the electronic recordswithout compromising voter anonymity and privacy, including publishingvoting results on a ballot-by ballot basis, e.g., via the Internet, asdescribed in incorporated patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and10/255,348. Such ability to verify that a ballot has been received andhas been counted could be desirable for absentee and/or provisionalvoters, as well as for general voting.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating details of a portion ofthe ballot reading process 300 of FIG. 8. In particular, an example ofdetails relating to the steps of decoding 327 voting selections, reading326 voting selections and/or tabulating 330 voting selections using theselected 324, 325 ballot template are illustrated. In a preferredembodiment, ballots are imaged, read and/or decoded 320 a, 320 birrespective of the orientation of each ballot as it is passed throughthe ballot reader and/or irrespective of the jurisdiction, votingdistrict, precinct and the like to which it pertains.

First, the orientation of each ballot is determined 340 from thelocation(s) of one or more indicia disposed in an asymmetrical patternon the ballot, and then the ballot image and/or the selected 324, 325template therefor is electronically oriented to be in the sameorientation. Before, after, and/or contemporaneously therewith, theballot is tested or checked 342 to verify that it is a complete ballot,i.e. that it includes all of the indicia 122 and marking space 112outlines that the ballot should include as defined by the selected 324,325 template, and so is not torn, folded, altered and the like. If theballot is not complete 342, path “N” is taken and the ballot isrejected, e.g., is physically separated from the other ballots formanual verification and processing.

If the ballot is complete 342, the path “Y” is taken and the ballot istested 346 to determine whether there is any write-in voting selectionthereon. If testing 346 finds any one or more write-in votingselections, the path “Y” is taken and, preferably, the portion(s) of theballot image containing a write-in voting selection(s) are stored 366,preferably along with the ballot VID for later verification, ifnecessary or desired. Typically, write-in voting selections areprocessed separately from voting selections from among the nominatedcandidates or other regular voting selections. Ballot processing thenproceeds to the detail steps of decoding 350 the regular votingselections, i.e. those made by mark space(s) 112.

If testing 346 finds no write-in voting selection is present, then path“N” is taken directly to the detail decoding 350 of regular votingselections. Decoding 350 includes a number of steps that determinewhether each mark space 112 has been marked to indicate that a votingselection has been made or has not been so marked. For example, thepixels of the ballot image, e.g., in a TIFF or BMP or other bitmapped orpixelated format, for each mark space 112 are tested to determinewhether it is a “light” (e.g., not marked) pixel or a “dark” (e.g.,marked) pixel. The number of “light” and “dark” pixels for each markspace 112 are counted 352 and the counts of “light” and “dark” pixel arestored 354. Preferably, the ballot VID is associated with the storedcounts of “light” and “dark” pixels thereof, e.g., for auditing and/orrecount. If a sufficient portion of the tested pixels in a given markspace are “dark” pixels, then that mark space 112 is considered to bemarked, e.g., as described below.

Testing 356 determines whether all of the mark spaces 112 of a contesthave been counted 352 and the counts thereof stored 354. If not, path“N” is taken to go to 358 the next region of the contest repeat thepixel counting 352 and storing 354 until all of mark spaces 112 havebeen processed. When all mark spaces 112 of a contest have beenprocessed, the path “Y” is taken from testing 356 to determine 360whether the contest has been voted properly, i.e. whether the propernumber of mark spaces have been marked. If the proper number of markspaces 112 have been marked, the path “Y” is taken and the votingselection for that contest is counted 362. If either too many (overvote) or too few (under vote) mark spaces 112 have been marked, the path“N” is taken and the under vote or over vote is stored for laterprocessing. If an under vote, the voting selections made can be counted362, if the applicable law allows.

In addition, if there is a write-in voting selection, the fact thereofis tested 368 with the affirmative result of the all regions countedtest 356 at path “Y” to determine 368 whether the contest is votedproperly considering the presence of a write-in voting selection. Ifnot, then path “N” is taken and an over vote or under vote is recorded364. If the voting selection is determined 368 to be proper, then path“Y” is taken and the write-in voting selection is processed 380.

Following the counting of a voting selection 362, an under vote or overvote 364 or a “Y” determination 368, testing 370 determines whether allcontests for that ballot have been counted and processed. If not, path“N” is taken to the next contest 372 which is then processed 350 and soforth as described. If yes, path “Y” is taken and the next ballot isthen processed in like manner to that just described until all of theballots have been processed and the voting selections thereon have beencounted and tabulated 330.

Separate processing 380 of write-in voting selections may proceed asfollows, typically after all the regular voting selections have beentabulated. Optionally, the write-in voting selections may be convertedto alphanumeric characters by optical character recognition (OCR) 382.The stored 366 images of the write-in voting selections are accumulated384, with their corresponding OCR result, if any, and are displayed formanual processing 386, including validation, by election officials. Thedisplay may be on a computer display or the like or may be a printedform, as may be desired and/or required by applicable law.

Preferably, write-in voting selection images are “clipped” from theballot images and have the ballot VID associated therewith, and pluralclipped images are displayed on one screen or printed on one page.Manually processed 386 valid write-in voting selections are counted andtabulated 330 with the total vote. In processing write-in votingselections, either the clipped image is displayed, or if the ballot VIDis associated therewith, the entire ballot image may be displayed or theoriginal ballot may be retrieved for use in manual processing 386. Wherethe ballots are read, not imaged, based upon comparison to a ballottemplate, only the result of reading the ballot is stored, and so theoriginal ballot is preferably separated and kept for manual processing386 of write-in voting selections.

A typical ballot image in a pixel or bitmap format may have a file sizein the range of 3-500 kilobytes, depending upon the format and thedegree of file compression utilized, but could be as large as 1-10megabytes without file compression. A computer hard drive of the sorttypically found in a current commercially available personal computer,e.g., of 60-100 gigabytes capacity, can easily store full-ballot images(of nominal or average 500 kilobyte size) for a population of 100,000voters. One or more servers may be utilized for storing ballot imagesfor a population of one million or more voters.

Typically, full ballot images are stored initially on the hard drive ofa computer and are later transferred to permanent storage media, e.g., a“write-once, read-many” (WORM) medium such as a CR-R disk, for long-termstorage. Reduced images, whether by compression and/or by “clipping” theportions of the ballot image that include mark spaces, write-in votingspaces, identifiers and the like, and other information pertinent tovoting selection other than the standard information and candidatesnames printed on the ballot, may be utilized to reduce the quantity ofinformation that needs be processed on counting and tabulating the voteand/or that needs to be stored. Such techniques can be utilized reducethe size of each ballot image file to as low as 10 kilobytes or less.

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C are schematic diagrams of mark spaces 112 of aballot 100 marked in a variety of ways and of enlarged diagramsillustrating details thereof, and are helpful to understanding apreferred aspect for counting voting selections of the method describedherein.

FIG. 10A illustrates some of the various ways that a voter may mark amark space 112 in making a voting selection. For example, mark space 112a has been fully marked by the voter so that it is essentially 100%filled in and there is no question that the voter intended to mark thatregion 112 a and it should be counted as a vote. Mark space 112 b ispartially marked and may be about 50% filled in, and it is likely thevoter intended to mark that region 112 b and it should be counted as avote. Similarly, mark spaces 112 c, 112 d and 112 e are marked with acheck, a large X and a small x, respectively, and it is likely that themark was intended and should be counted as a vote. However, mark space112 f contains a small mark that may be an intended or unintended marktherein, and so may or may not be counted as a vote.

Each ballot image captured by ballot reader in reading ballots 100 mustbe read to determine which ones of mark spaces 112 thereon have beenmarked sufficiently to count as being marked to indicate a votingselection and which ones have not. The ballot reader produces a ballotimage, whether of the entire ballot or only of portions thereof selectedin accordance with the applicable ballot template, that is preferably ina pixelated or bitmapped format, e.g., a TIFF or a BMP image, or otherbitmapped format. Ballot images in such format may be produced directlyby a commercially available office copier or scanner or may be convertedto such format, if necessary, or may be provided by a specialized ballotscanning apparatus.

FIG. 10B illustrates a reading region 130 of a ballot which contains amarked mark space 112. Based on the applicable ballot template, e.g.,the template selected 324, 325 from among the possible ballot templatesusing the VID number read/decoded 322, 323 from the ballot, a number ofreading regions 130 each including one mark space 112 are selected fromthe ballot image. Each reading region 130 is preferably slightly largerthan and includes one mark space 112. Each region includes a largenumber of pixels 132 as illustrated by the dotted grid lines, e.g.,representing an over scan of mark space 112. Mark space 112 includesmark 140, e.g., a mark made by a voter to indicate a voting selection.

For clarity, only a few rows and columns of pixels are illustrated, itbeing understood that a large number, e.g., 800-1000 pixels is typical.In one embodiment, reading region 130 includes about 900 pixels. Becauseeach reading region 130, whether or not marked by a voter, includes theprinted outline of mark space 112, a predetermined number of the pixelsrepresenting the mark space 112 outline will be “dark” pixels. In oneembodiment, the outline of mark space 112 includes about 100 darkpixels, with a tolerance of about ±40 pixels due to ballot to ballotvariations, e.g., printing variations, outline-to-pixel patternregistration differences, reading/imaging differences, scanner lightingvariations, sensor noise, and the like.

One preferred arrangement for determining whether a mark space 112 hasbeen marked to indicate a voting selection is as follows. The maximumnumber of pixels 132 that a mark 140 could darken (i.e. the number of“markable pixels”) is determined by subtracting the number of pixels ofthe outline of mark space 112 from the total number of pixels 132 inreading region 130. For the example embodiment, the number of markablepixels is 900−100=800 pixels.

A predetermined threshold of dark markable pixels (e.g., the “votedthreshold”) is established for determining that a mark space 112 hasbeen marked (voted). For example, voted thresholds of between about 20%and about 50% of the maximum number of markable pixels 132 have beenfound satisfactory, and are preferred, although higher or lower votedthresholds are satisfactory and may be utilized. If a higher percentagevoted threshold were to be utilized, the effect is that the voter isbeing required to more fully darken the mark space 112 in order for avoting selection to be considered as such. If a lower percentage votedthreshold is established, then mark space 112 outlines having a positivetolerance and/or reading “noise” could determine that a voting selectionhas been made when none was intended. In some tests, thresholds of about10% and less were found to produce readings of a voting selection wherenone was intended.

To determine whether a voting selection has been made in a given markspace 112, the number of pixels of the mark space outline is subtractedfrom the number of marked pixels, and the difference is compared withthe predetermined voted threshold. This provides additional safetymargin against erroneous reading because the number of dark pixels ofthe mark space outline is subtracted both in calculating the votedthreshold and in determining the number of pixels that have been read asmarked by the voter.

In the example embodiment, a voted threshold of 20% is equal to 160marked pixels (20% of 800 markable pixels), and a threshold of 50% isequal to 400 marked pixels, in a reading region 130. It is noted thatusing the lower voted threshold of 20% requires that at least 160 markedpixels be present which is about four times the expected tolerance of 40pixels of the outline of mark space 112 and so an unmarked mark space112 will be unlikely to be erroneously determined to be a votingselection.

An advantage obtains where the counts of the numbers of “light” and“dark” pixels are stored for each mark space 112 of each ballot, as ispreferred, but is not necessary, as described above. After the ballotsare read/imaged, their “light” and “dark” pixels counted and stored, andvoting selections counted and tabulated with a given predetermined votedthreshold, the predetermined voted threshold may be changed and thevoting selections recounted and re-tabulated using the stored “light”and “dark” pixels counts, without having to again scan the ballots. Thisis performed quickly and electronically, without the need for scanningor otherwise processing the original paper ballots, and ballot imagesmay be inspected in case of a question.

Thus the effect of changing the value of the predetermined votedthreshold on the tabulated election result may be determined, and may becompared with the election result (e.g., the vote margin of the winningcandidate) for determining whether that effect is significant withrespect to the outcome of the election. Where the ballot VID isassociated with the stored pixel counts, as is optional but ispreferred, the ballots for which the reading of the voting selection ischanged by the changing of the predetermined voted threshold may beidentified, and may be obtained for visual inspection by votingofficials. Typically, the differences in reading voting selectionsprovided by the foregoing ballot reading and counting arrangement havebeen found to be relatively small, and so would not be significant interms of an election result in all but the closest of elections.

Because the counts of dark and light pixels are stored in thepixel-based preferred arrangement, it is quite easy to vary thepredetermined threshold for what is and is not a voted (marked) markspace and to determine the variance if either a higher or lowerthreshold had been utilized (i.e. a higher or lower percentage of filledarea of the mark spaces 112). For example, a typical predeterminedthreshold level might be set at 20%, 25%, 30%, 35% or 40%. Once thevotes are read and counted using the predetermined threshold, it isquite easy to perform one or more recounts with the threshold set at ahigher or lower threshold level utilizing the stored counts of light anddark pixels without having to re-scan (re-image) and reprocess theballots.

For example, where the ballots are initially read and decoded utilizinga predetermined threshold of 30%, the results can be tested and comparedsimply by setting the predetermined threshold to 20% and recountingusing the stored counts of light and dark pixels and then to set thepredetermined threshold to 40% and again recounting using the samestored counts of light and dark pixels. The differences in vote talliesgenerated using different predetermined thresholds of light and darkpixels will determine the sensitivity of the vote count to the relativelevel of marking filling of the vote selection mark spaces.

Further, where the preferred arrangement is employed wherein the ballotidentifier (VID) is associated with the ballot image and the storedcounts of light and dark pixels, the voting results obtained for eachballot for each predetermined threshold level may be compared and theballots for which the voting result changes when the predeterminedthreshold is varied may be identified by their respective ballotidentifiers (VIDs) and may then be retrieved for manual inspection,e.g., by an election official and/or a court or other authorityconducting an examination of the voting result.

Thus, the described arrangement facilitates the identification of thoseballots for which voter intent may be in issue and also provides meanswhereby the ballots in question may be identified and evaluatedautomatically and without subjective human intervention. If thisarrangement had been utilized in the November 2000 presidential electionin the United States, for example, then the recounting of votes incertain counties of the state of Florida would have been much quickerand accurate, and may have been freed from the taint and embarrassmentof partisan human interpretation.

FIG. 10C illustrates an enlarged view of a portion of reading region 130which contains a portion of a mark 140 in mark space 112 (or of anoutline of a mark space 112). Therein, dashed lines indicate rows a, b,c, . . . and columns 1, 2, 3, . . . of pixels 132 on which a portion ofa mark 140 (or a mark space 112 outline) is superimposed, and pixels 132are designated as “x-y” where “x” is the letter of the row thereof and“y” is the number of the column thereof, e.g., the pixel at row a,column 1, is designated as pixel “a-1.” It is seen that while a mark 140completely fills some pixels 132, it does not either completely fill orcompletely not fill all pixels 132. Thus a criteria is needed todetermine whether any given pixel is “dark” or is “light,” i.e. is notdark.

One convenient criteria is that the pixel is considered “light” if theintensity (brightness) of a pixel is greater than 50% of full brightnessand is considered “dark” if its intensity (brightness) is less than 50%of full brightness, although any other suitable level could be utilized.Thus, illustrated pixels b-1, c-1, c-4, and f-7, among others, are“light” and illustrated pixels f-3, d-6, c-7 and b-8, among others, are“dark.” Other illustrated pixels, such as pixels f-2, e-3, g-3 and e-6,among others, are more than 50% covered by mark 140 and so would beconsidered “dark” pixels, while illustrated pixels f-1, b-6, f-5 andd-8, among others, are less than 50% covered by mark 140 and so would beconsidered “light” pixels.

Pixel intensity (brightness) is tested for each pixel and each pixel isdetermined to be either “light” or “dark” and the total numbers of“light” and “dark” pixels, respectively, are counted for each readingregion 130, as described above. Because the processing of each readingregion 130 as described above makes provision for variations in readingcharacteristics, the accuracy of counting of voting selections is notparticularly sensitive to the predetermined intensity threshold that isutilized for determining “light” and “dark” pixels. It is noted that thepreferred threshold of 50% is symmetrical and tends to avoid astatistical bias towards determining whether any given pixel is a“light” pixel or a “dark” pixel.

FIG. 11 is a schematic flow diagram of an example process 400 forgenerating the ballots of FIGS. 1, 3A-3D and 4. In process 400, a ballotis generated 410, 410′ including the contests and/or questions to bepresented to the voters generated from information entered by electionofficials prior to an election. Typically, election officials generate adatabase 408 of ballot forms (styles) for the various jurisdictions,districts, polling locations and the like, and in the case of a primary,for each political party, each being associated with a particularjurisdictional portion of the voter identifier (VID). In printingballots, the appropriate form/style is selected from the database 408thereof in accordance with the jurisdictional portion of a particularVID, e.g., ballot generation as described herein and/or in incorporatedpatent applications Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/255,348.

Ballots may be generated 410 with a complete voter identifier (VID),i.e. an identifier including the jurisdictional information (e.g.,fields 381-386) and a unique random identifier (e.g., field 387), andprinted 412 as a set of unique ballots, either in advance of an electionand/or “on-demand” in an election. Ballots may be generated 410′ with apartial voter identifier (VID), i.e. an identifier including thejurisdictional information (e.g., fields 381-386), and printed 412′ as aset of identical ballots either in advance of an election (e.g.,conventional printing) and/or “on-demand” in an election. Such ballotsmay be utilized directly, i.e. without the unique identifier portion ofthe VID, or a unique random identifier (e.g., field 387) portion of avoter identifier may be generated 414 and may be printed 416 on theballots to provide a set of unique ballots and/or may be printed onlabels to be affixed to the printed ballots at a later time. A list ofthe voter identifiers utilized on ballots may be retained, e.g., in adatabase on a computer, for later use in verifying and/or authenticatingvoted ballots received 424, and may be without compromising voteranonymity and privacy where no record is kept that could relate aparticular ballot to a particular voter. Further, printed ballotsincluding the VID may be placed into envelopes, e.g., absentee ballotsplaced into mailing envelopes, by automated equipment to reduce thepossibility of human action that may compromise privacy and/oranonymity.

In either case, the printed ballots with a complete VID and/or with apartial jurisdictional VID are distributed 420 for being utilized byvoters in voting in an election in accordance with the applicableelection procedure, e.g., by marking their voting selections in the markspaces provided. It is noted that the ballots may be distributed 420 inadvance of an election, e.g., as absentee ballots or as ballots forearly voting, may be distributed 420 during an election as the usualballot for all voters, e.g., at polling locations on an election day ordays, and/or may be distributed 420 to particular voters, e.g., tovoters voting provisionally.

Absentee ballot envelopes may be printed in like manner to that employedfor printing ballots, i.e. either as a batch printing process 412 and/oron demand 412′-416. An envelope voter identifier (EVID) may be printedon each envelope or later applied, e.g., by label, that includes fieldsidentifying the jurisdiction and ballot type, with or without a uniquerandomly-generated identifier, in similar manner to the VID utilized onthe ballot. The EVID may be utilized to identify the envelope/ballotupon distribution 420, e.g., sending/mailing out to the voter, and uponreturn 424, and facilitates automated placement of ballots intoenvelopes as described.

Marked (voted) ballots are received 424, e.g., by election officials,the ballots having been submitted by mail, in-person or other deliverymethod, e.g., in the case of absentee ballots or ballots for earlyvoting, by deposit in ballot containers or delivery to an electionofficial at a polling location or other designated location, e.g., asthe usual ballots voted and/or as provisional ballots. Ballots voted asabsentee, early and/or provisional voting ballots are typically sealedin a plain opaque envelope after the voter marks his voting selectionsthereon and the plain envelope is then sealed inside an opaque outerenvelope on which is marked the voter's name and address, the election,jurisdiction, date, and/or other particulars, and a voter signature,and/or the identification and signature of a witness. Each ballot isverified 430, i.e. the information on the outer envelope is utilized byelection officials to determine whether the ballot sealed therein shouldbe opened and counted. Such determination may include, e.g., whether thevoter is eligible to vote, whether the voter signature on the envelopematches the voter signature in the voter registration records, and/orwhether the ballot is a valid ballot for the particular election(possibly including whether the ballot is a duplicate of another vote inthe name of the voter).

Upon return 424 of an absentee ballot and before opening it to obtainthe ballot therein for counting, the envelope EVID on the outer envelopeis read and is utilized for authenticating/verifying 430 the absenteeballot and for indicating that the voter to whom is was provided hasvoted and/or for disqualifying the absentee ballot if the voter hasvoted in person during the election, thereby to reduce the likelihoodfor a voter voting more than once without being detected. Once theabsentee ballot is determined 430 to be a valid absentee ballot basedupon the EVID, the envelope is opened and the ballot therein is counted430 as described.

While a record of the VID of ballots sent as absentee ballots may beretained for verifying that the ballot is an authentic absentee ballotas part of it being counted, it is preferred that the VID and EVID beseparate and independent of each other and not linked, so that theidentity of the voter remains anonymous and his vote remains private.Voter anonymity and/or privacy may also be enhanced where substantialnumbers of such ballots are processed together, e.g., where absenteeand/or provisional ballots are removed from their envelopes. Ballots notvalidated may be retained either physically and/or electronically bystoring images thereof, and such stored images may be related to thevoter registration database, if desired.

The verified (qualified) received ballots are then read as describedherein (e.g., see FIGS. 7 and 8) and tabulated 430, without the need forbeing sorted by election and/or ballot style and/or jurisdiction beforereading and tabulating 430, to determine the result or outcome of thevoting. Before and/or during the reading and tabulating 430, the ballotsmay be verified/authenticated by comparing the complete VID number oneach ballot against a list of valid VID numbers for the election, e.g.,a computer database listing the VID of each issued ballot, and/or bymanual inspection by an election official.

The result/outcome of the election is certified and/or published 432 asrequired by the applicable election laws. Preferably, the tabulating 430of voted ballots preserves the specific voting selections read from eachballot and the associated VID (e.g., voting record) of that ballot, aswell as tallying the vote totals for determining the election outcome,and a listing of the voting selections and VID (voting record) from allballots are published where the public can access same, e.g., on abulletin board, in a printed publication and/or on an Internet web site.Thus, each voter knowing his VID can access the listing and find thevote recorded from his ballot by its VID and can satisfy himself thathis vote has been counted and nas been counted correctly and accurately.Where the voter retains a copy of his ballot and/or is issued a votingreceipt, such may be utilized for correcting an incorrectly recordedvote and/or an improperly disqualified ballot where permitted byapplicable law.

FIG. 12 is a schematic flow diagram of an example voting process 500utilizing the ballot of FIGS. 1, 3A-3D and 4. Voting district specificballots are generated 510 and distributed 512 for being voted. Votersvote 514 by marking the mark spaces on the ballot corresponding to theirdesired voting selections (votes) and submit their ballots in accordancewith applicable election procedure. A voter may copy 516 his markedballot for later checking that his vote was counted and was countedproperly. Voted ballots are received 520 and the received voted ballotsare authenticated 522 before being read and counted. All the foregoingmay be as described in relation to FIG. 11.

Authenticated (valid) ballots are read (scanned) 524 to read the VIDnumber printed thereon and the voting selections marked thereon, i.e.the voting selections marked on each ballot are read according to aballot template corresponding to the jurisdictional portion of the VIDselected based upon the jurisdictional portion of the VID read 524 fromeach ballot. Write-in votes are preferably read and processed 525 byoptical character recognition (OCR) software for computer tabulation,and/or ballots having write-in votes may be separated for manualprocessing (e.g. manual deciphering and posting) 525 and/or inspectionand/or verification. As described, ballots are read 524 according toballot templates selected based upon the read VID and so do not need tobe sorted by jurisdiction and/or style prior to reading 524.

Ballots over-voted (i.e. wherein more mark spaces than are permitted tobe marked have been marked) may be disposed 526 by being separated orejected for manual inspection and/or invalidation, and/or the validportions of the voting selections may be recorded and tabulated 530,depending on the treatment of over-voted ballots under applicable law.Some jurisdictions invalidate only the voting selections made inover-voted contests and other jurisdictions invalidate an entire ballotcontaining any over-vote. Ballots under-voted (i.e. wherein fewer markspaces than are permitted to be marked have been marked) may be recordedseparately 526 and/or the under-vote may be recorded separately 526(e.g., for review and/or for statistical purposes), and the votingselections thereon are recorded and tabulated 530, and/or under-votedballots may be separated for manual inspection, depending on thetreatment of under-voted ballots under applicable law. Further, the readand/or imaged information for each under- and/or over-voted ballot maybe printed out for review by election officials.

The voting selections from read 524 ballots is recorded 530 includingthe VID number from each ballot, i.e. the voting selections and VID ofeach ballot are recorded and stored as an individual voting record, andthe voting selections therefrom are also tabulated 530 to determine theresult of voting. Preferably, the information read from each ballot,e.g., voting record of voting selections and VID, are stored in pluralseparate and independent memory devices, e.g., hard drives, flashmemories, optical CD-ROM and the like, as described in incorporatedpatent applications Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/255,348, forpreservation with the original paper ballots in accordance withapplicable procedures.

When the voting results tabulations are properly verified, the result iscertified 532 as official. Thereafter, the certified results may beposted/published 534, e.g., on an Internet web site, including both thetabulated 530 result and/or the voting records including VID of eachindividual ballot, thereby enabling any voter knowing his VID, e.g.,from a ballot copy and/or a printed voting receipt, to review 540 thevoting record corresponding to that VID to ascertain whether it wascounted and, if counted, whether it was correctly counted. Theposted/published 534 voting records can include not only those votingrecords for ballots that were authenticated 522 and thus counted 524,530, but may also include the voting records for ballots that weredisqualified or otherwise not counted and/or not completely countedand/or the fact that the ballot of that VID was disqualified or was notcounted and/or not completely counted.

In connection with the steps of reading 524, recording and tabulating530 and/or the processing of write-in, under and over-votes 525, 526,528, for example, election officials may be provided with administrativeand management tools, such as user rights and levels of access,passwords and the like, the keeping of logs of events and/or actionsperformed, functions to export (e.g., by electronic file transfer and/orvia floppy disks, CD-ROMs and other tangible media) all or part of thefiles of vote tabulations, voting records, vote statistics and the like,and/or for the printing of various reports and/or forms, such as votetallies, voting reports, vote certification forms and the like.

While the VID information may be provided to the voter on a paper ballotand/or on a paper or other identification card, or may be entered by anelection official at the election office and/or polling place forprinting on a ballot, VID information may be coded into the memory of asmart card and the voting machine may include a smart card reader forreading the coded VID stored therein where the voting machine isutilized to print an optically scan-able ballot including the VID.Identification of the voter at the time for voting may utilize the VIDinformation stored in the voter's smart card, or may be by traditionalidentification methods, such as signature verification, conventionallyutilized by various jurisdictions.

Alternatively, a unique identifier stored in the voting machine may beread into the voter's smart card and may either supplement or replacethe voter number stored therein at issuance, whereby the pre-storedvoter number may be used to verify registration and/or the uniqueidentifier may be utilized to preserve voter anonymity and privacy.Preferably for voter privacy, only the unique identifier, e.g., VID, isstored in the voter smart card and/or on a printed allot at thecompletion of a voting session. A database of unique identifiers validonly for a particular election may be pre-loaded into the votingmachines and/or vote tabulating machines prior to that election, and/orsmart cards may be collected when voted, for security.

While the present invention has been described in terms of the foregoingexemplary embodiments, variations within the scope and spirit of thepresent invention as defined by the claims following will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. For example, while the identifier (e.g., VIDnumber) of a ballot must be machine readable for automatic tabulation ofvotes, the machine-readable VID may be the same as the desirablehuman-readable VID, i.e. alphanumeric characters readable by people aswell as machines (e.g., readers having OCR) may be utilized.

Moreover, any arrangement described in relation to a particular form ofvoting (e.g., absentee or provisional voting) may be utilized inrelation to any other form of voting (e.g., regular or early voting) aswell.

Further, the identifier (VID) may include any one or more of the fieldsdescribed and/or additional or different fields, as may be appropriateand/or desirable. Each identifier (VID) includes one or more fieldscontaining a representation of jurisdictional information and/or aballot form, and may include one or more fields containing a uniquerandom portion. Herein, an identifier may be or be referred to as aballot identifier and/or a voting session identifier, e.g., where theballot is generated with an identifier in a voting session of anelection, i.e. in recording a voter's vote or is generated apart from avoting session and any voter, and/or may be referred to as a voteridentifier in relation to a particular voter (even if random andanonymous).

Also, and optionally, for weighted and/or ranked voting, the ballot mayprovide for the voter to write-in the weighting and/or rank for eachcandidate and/or response in a marking space 112 provided therefor andthe write-in portion may be read and translated into machine readableform manually. Further, the reader may include an OCR function fortranslating the written weight and/or rank into machine readable form,and in such case, means for writing in the selection in a common fonteasily understood by the reader may be provided. Voter over-votingerrors in making weighting and/or ranking preferences may beproportionately corrected automatically, e.g., normalized to the properweight, if the law allows. Under votes may be counted insofar as theyare voted.

While ballots are generally referred to herein as “paper” ballots, it isunderstood that while present day sheet ballots are typically of paperor of a somewhat heavier stock, paper ballot as used herein is intendedto include paper, heavy paper, card stock, cardboard, plastic, punchcard and other forms of ballots on a sheet of material. While sheetballots are most commonly read by optical scanning when the ballotpasses a light source and the marked/unmarked state of the mark regionsis sensed by an associated light detector, marking may be detected byother means such as a mechanical and/or electrical sensing and detectingmeans.

Where ballots are separately processed, such processing may be automatedor manual, or may be a combination thereof. Separate processing may beutilized where ballots include a write-in vote, an overvote, anundervote, and/or where a ballot appears to be missing voting markspaces, ballot identifier and/or fiducial marks, and/or wherein suchfeatures have not been properly read and/or imaged.

In any of the arrangements described herein, a printer may be associatedwith a ballot reader, e.g., such as reader 1000 described in relation toFIG. 7, for providing a voting receipt and/or confirmation that a ballothas been properly read. Such receipt may be a simple confirmation of areadable ballot, a listing of voting selections and/or may include aprintout of a full ballot image, or anything in between. In the lattercase, it may be desirable for the printed version of the voter's ballotto be submitted as the official vote after the voter has opportunity toverify its accuracy and completeness. The printed ballot version wouldhave fully blackened mark spaces for each voting selection made therebyto further reduce the already extremely low rate of questionable votecounting error typically obtained with the described arrangements.

In addition, while the apparatus and method herein are typicallydescribed in relation to voting apparatus having a user interface, e.g.,a display and a data entry device such as a touch screen, either or bothmay be eliminated and/or rendered inoperative, if desired, and replacedby the optical ballot reading apparatus such as that described. Further,the apparatus and method herein may be utilized in fields andapplications other than elections and voting, e.g., in thegrading/marking of examinations and tests such as school and universitytests, professional tests, and the like, wherein the voter is a testtaker and an answer sheet replaces the ballot, in the tallying andtabulating of surveys and questionnaires (replacing the ballots), in thereading and tabulation of gaming sheets (replacing the ballots) such asfor races and lotteries, and the like.

A method for reading a sheet having one or more regions of choices and aplurality of mark spaces thereon in which one or more selections may bemarked for each of one or more choices, each mark space being a spacedefined for marking a selection therein, the method may comprise:imaging the sheet having one or more choice regions and a plurality ofmark spaces thereon wherein the image of the sheet includes all of themark spaces for the choice regions thereon and is in a pixelated orbitmapped format including a plurality of pixels; defining for eachsheet the one or more choice regions each containing a plurality ofreading regions each including one mark space; processing the image ofthe sheet for decoding from the image of the sheet the defined one ormore choice regions and for decoding from the image of the sheet theplurality of reading regions including the one mark space thereof; andfor each decoded choice region: counting at least the number of darkpixels for each reading region; determining from the counts of the darkpixels for each reading region whether the mark space therein isunmarked or is marked as a selection; and counting each determinedmarked selection. The determining may comprise: determining thedifference between a number of dark pixels representative of the markspace and a total number of pixels for a reading region, and determiningwhether the counted number of dark pixels for that reading regionexceeds a predetermined portion of the difference between the number ofdark pixels representative of the mark space and the total number ofpixels for that reading region. Where two or more of the mark spaces areassociated with a choice, each choice may have a given number ofselections that may be made therein, the method may comprise: countingthe number of mark spaces for the choice that are determined from thecounts of light and dark pixels for each reading region to be marked asa selection; comparing the number of selections marked to the givennumber of selections; and if the number of selections marked equals thegiven number, then performing the counting each determined selection, ifthe number of selections marked is less than the given number, thenproviding an indication of an under selection, and if the number ofselections marked exceeds the given number, then providing an indicationof an over selection and not performing the counting each determinedselection. An indication of an under selection or an over selection orboth may be provided, and the method may further comprise providing atleast an image including any under selected selection, any over selectedselection or any under selected selection and any over selectedselection for separate processing. Wherein two or more of the markspaces and a write-in selection space are associated with a choice, themethod may comprise: determining whether a write-in selection space hasbeen marked; and if a write in selection space has been marked,providing at least an image including the write-in selection forseparate processing. The separate processing may comprise: storing theimages of write-in selections and/or content of write-in selections; anddisplaying the stored image and/or content of a write-in selection,accumulated stored images and/or contents of a plurality of write-inselections or both. Each choice may have a given number of selectionsthat may be made therein, and the method may comprise: counting thenumber of selections made for the choice including mark spaces andwrite-in selection spaces that are determined to be marked as aselection; comparing the number of selections marked to the given numberof selections; and if the number of selections marked equals the givennumber, then the counting each determined selection, if the number ofselections marked is less than the given number, then providing anindication of an under selection, and if the number of selections markedexceeds the given number, then providing an indication of an overselection and not performing the counting each determined selection.Determining from at least the counts of dark pixels for each readingregion whether the mark space therein is marked as a selection maycomprise: (a) comparing the relative numbers of light and dark pixels toa first predetermined value to determine whether the mark space ismarked as a selection; and the method may further comprise: (b)comparing the relative numbers of light and dark pixels to a secondpredetermined value that is higher or lower than the first predeterminedvalue to determine whether the mark space is marked as a selection; and(c) providing an indication of the difference, if any, in thedeterminations of step (a) and step (b). Each sheet may have acorresponding unique identifier, and the providing an indication mayinclude providing the unique sheet identifier. Each sheet may have anidentifier thereon or may have two or more fiducial marks thereon or mayhave an identifier and two or more fiducial marks thereon, and themethod may further comprise, prior to the counting each determinedmarked selection: defining for each sheet one or more second readingregions each including one or more of the identifier and fiducial marks;counting the number of light pixels and dark pixels for each secondreading region; determining from the counts of light and dark pixels foreach reading region and for each second reading region whether at leastall mark spaces and all of the identifier and fiducial marks are presentin the image of the sheet. The sheet may include an examination sheet, atest sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheet, a surveysheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lottery sheet,or any combination of the foregoing. The method may be utilized forgrading and/or marking an examination, for grading and/or marking atest, for grading and/or marking a school test, for grading and/ormarking a university test, for grading and/or marking a professionaltest, for grading and/or marking an answer sheet, for tallying and/ortabulating a survey, for tallying and/or tabulating a questionnaire, forreading and/or tabulating gaming sheets, for reading and/or tabulatingraces, for reading and/or tabulating lotteries, or any combination ofthe foregoing.

A method for optically reading sheets may comprise: making selectionsusing any of a keyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch, voicerecognition apparatus, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writingrecognition interface; then producing a sheet by printing the selectionson a pre-printed form or printing a form including the selections;repeating the making and the producing steps for a plurality ofparticipants, and then: reading or imaging each sheet including readingthe selections marked thereon; and processing the read or imaged sheetfor determining the selections thereon in accordance with a template towhich the read or imaged sheet corresponds, whereby the selections aremarked on each sheet and are processed in accordance with thecorresponding template. The method may further comprise either:recording the selections marked on each sheet in accordance with thetemplate; or displaying the selections marked on each sheet inaccordance with the template, but not recording or storing theselections. Each sheet may be associated with a jurisdiction and whereinthe processing may include selecting the template corresponding to thejurisdiction in accordance with the jurisdiction associated with thesheet. Two or more of the mark spaces and a write-in selection space maybe associated with a choice, and the method may comprise: determiningwhether a write-in selection space has been marked; and if a write inselection space has been marked, providing at least an image includingthe write-in selection for separate processing. Separate processing maycomprise: storing the images of write-in selections and/or content ofwrite-in selections; and displaying the stored image and/or content of awrite-in selection, accumulated stored images and/or contents of aplurality of write-in selections or both. Each choice may have a givennumber of selections that may be made therein, and the method maycomprise: counting the number of selections made for the choiceincluding mark spaces and write-in selection spaces that are determinedto be marked as a selection; comparing the number of selections markedto the given number of selections; and if the number of selectionsmarked equals the given number, then the counting each determinedselection, if the number of selections marked is less than the givennumber, then providing an indication of an under selection, and if thenumber of selections marked exceeds the given number, then providing anindication of an over selection and not performing the counting eachdetermined selection. Determining from at least the counts of darkpixels for each reading region whether the mark space therein is markedas a selection may comprise: (a) comparing the relative numbers of lightand dark pixels to a first predetermined value to determine whether themark space is marked as a selection; and the method may furthercomprise: (b) comparing the relative numbers of light and dark pixels toa second predetermined value that is higher or lower than the firstpredetermined value to determine whether the mark space is marked as aselection; and (c) providing an indication of the difference, if any, inthe determinations of step (a) and step (b). Each sheet may have anidentifier thereon or may have two or more fiducial marks thereon or mayhave an identifier and two or more fiducial marks thereon, and themethod may further comprise, prior to the counting each determinedmarked selection: defining for each sheet one or more second readingregions each including one or more of the identifier and fiducial marks;counting the number of light pixels and dark pixels for each secondreading region; determining from the counts of light and dark pixels foreach reading region and for each second reading region whether at leastall mark spaces and all of the identifier and fiducial marks are presentin the image of the sheet. The sheet may include an examination sheet, atest sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheet, a surveysheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lottery sheet,or any combination of the foregoing. The method may be utilized forgrading and/or marking an examination, for grading and/or marking atest, for grading and/or marking a school test, for grading and/ormarking a university test, for grading and/or marking a professionaltest, for grading and/or marking an answer sheet, for tallying and/ortabulating a survey, for tallying and/or tabulating a questionnaire, forreading and/or tabulating gaming sheets, for reading and/or tabulatingraces, for reading and/or tabulating lotteries, or any combination ofthe foregoing.

A machine readable sheet may comprise: a sheet of material having anidentifier region thereon wherein a sheet identifier therein is uniqueand is not related to the identity of an individual person, the sheetmay also have a plurality of choice regions thereon, each choice regionhaving two or more mark spaces therein for making selections or having awrite-in space for entering a write-in selection therein or having twoor more mark spaces therein for making selections and a write-in spacefor entering a write-in selection therein, and the unique identifier andthe mark spaces may be machine readable. The unique identifier mayinclude one or more of a bar code, a two-dimensional bar code, aprescribed font, optical character recognition (OCR) characters,alphanumeric characters, non-alphanumeric characters, and symbols; theunique identifier may identify a template corresponding to the two ormore mark spaces for making selections in each of the plurality ofchoice regions; or the unique identifier may be represented bycharacters that are machine readable and are human readable; or theunique identifier may be represented by characters that are randomlygenerated; or the machine-readable sheet may comprise a plurality ofpages and each of the plurality of pages may have a machine-readableindicia representative of a page number thereof; or the sheet may havetwo or more fiducial marks thereon for defining the orientation and thescale of the sheet; or one of the mark spaces in a choice region mayrepresent an abstention selection; or any combination of any of theforegoing. The machine readable sheet may include an examination sheet,a test sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheet, asurvey sheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lotterysheet, or any combination of the foregoing. The machine readable sheetmay be readable by an optical scanner, by an imager, or by an opticalscanner and an imager, for reading selections marked in the two or moremark spaces, for reading a write-in selection in a write-in space, orfor reading selections marked in the two or more mark spaces and awrite-in selection in a write-in space.

A method for reading a sheet having a plurality of mark spaces thereonin which selections may be marked may comprise: defining first andsecond predetermined values related to counts of light pixels and darkpixels for a mark space being considered marked as a selection, whereinthe second predetermined value is greater than or less than the firstpredetermined value; imaging the sheet having a plurality of mark spacesthereon wherein the image is in a format including a plurality ofpixels; defining for each sheet a plurality of reading regions eachincluding the outline of one mark space; counting the number of lightpixels and dark pixels for each reading region; determining from thecounts of light and dark pixels for each reading region and the firstpredetermined value whether the mark space therein is marked as aselection; determining from the counts of light and dark pixels for eachreading region and the second predetermined value whether the mark spacetherein is marked as a selection; identifying each sheet wherein thedetermination of a marked selection based on the first predeterminedvalue differs from the determination of a marked selection based on thesecond predetermined value. The sheet may include an examination sheet,a test sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheet, asurvey sheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lotterysheet, or any combination of the foregoing. The method may be utilizedfor grading and/or marking an examination, for grading and/or marking atest, for grading and/or marking a school test, for grading and/ormarking a university test, for grading and/or marking a professionaltest, for grading and/or marking an answer sheet, for tallying and/ortabulating a survey, for tallying and/or tabulating a questionnaire, forreading and/or tabulating gaming sheets, for reading and/or tabulatingraces, for reading and/or tabulating lotteries, or any combination ofthe foregoing.

1. A method for marking a ballot sheet comprising: receiving anindication of a voting session on a voting machine and identifying atemplate, wherein the template defines a pattern of all mark spaces thatmay be marked to indicate a selection; presenting voting selections forthe voting session in accordance with the template; receiving votingselections made in the voting session using a keyboard, a touch screen,a button, a switch, voice recognition apparatus, a Braille keyboard, apen with writing recognition interface, or a combination thereof; thenproducing a paper ballot sheet for the voting session by printing markscorresponding to the voting selections on a ballot sheet form or byprinting a ballot sheet form including marks corresponding to the votingselections; and receiving the printed paper ballot sheet for reading themarks corresponding to voting selections marked thereon in accordancewith the template.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the template definesa plurality of regions each having at least one space corresponding to avoting selection, a write-in selection space, at least one spacecorresponding to a voting selection and a write-in selection space, or acombination thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said producing apaper ballot sheet includes printing marks for voting selections in markspaces corresponding to the voting selections defined by the template.4. The method of claim 3 wherein said producing a paper ballot sheetfurther includes printing the mark spaces in locations defined by thetemplate.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said producing a paper ballotsheet further includes printing an identifier identifying the template.6. The method of claim 5 wherein the identifier includes one or more ofa bar code, a two-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters,non-alphanumeric characters, and symbols.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein two or more possible voting selections are associated with acontest or question, each contest or question having a given number ofvoting selections that may be made therein, the method comprising:comparing the number of voting selections made to the given number ofselections; and if the number of voting selections made is less than thegiven number, then providing an indication of an under selection, and ifthe number of voting selections made exceeds the given number, thenproviding an indication of an over selection.
 8. The method of claim 7wherein an indication of an under selection or an over selection or bothis provided, further comprising providing at least an image includingany under selected voting selection, any over selected voting selection,or any under selected voting selection and any over selected votingselection.
 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising either: recordingthe voting selections marked on each paper ballot sheet in accordancewith the template; or displaying the voting selections marked on eachpapa ballot sheet in accordance with the template, but not recording orstoring the voting selections.
 10. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: imaging the printed paper ballot sheet; and: (a) storing theimage of the printed paper ballot sheet; or (b) processing the image ofthe printed paper ballot sheet for determining the voting selectionsfrom the marks printed thereon; or (c) processing the image of theprinted paper ballot sheet in accordance with the template fordetermining the voting selections from the marks printed thereon; or (d)determining the template from an identifier of the template printed onthe paper ballot sheet; or (e) publishing voting selections asdetermined in accordance with the template from the image the paperballot sheet; or (f) any combination of the foregoing steps (a) through(e).
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein said presenting includesdisplaying alphanumeric and/or graphical information, illuminating anilluminated button, activating a Braille device, giving audible voiceinstructions, and/or reproducing aural information via headphones.
 12. Amethod for marking sheets comprising: receiving an indication at asession on a selection machine; receiving selections made in the sessionusing a keyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch, voice recognitionapparats, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writing recognition interface,or a combination thereof; then producing a paper sheet in accordancewith a template for the session by printing marks corresponding to theselections on a sheet form or by printing a sheet form including markscorresponding to the selections, wherein the template defines a patternof all mark spaces that may be marked to indicate a selection; receivingthe printed paper sheet for reading the selections marked thereon inaccordance with the template.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein thetemplate defines a plurality of regions each having at least one spacecorresponding to a selection, a write-in selection space, at least onespace corresponding to a selection and a write-in selection space, or acombination thereof.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein said producing apaper sheet includes printing marks for the selections in mark spacescorresponding to the selections defined by the template.
 15. The methodof claim 14 wherein said producing a paper sheet further includesprinting the mark spaces in locations defined by the template.
 16. Themethod of claim 12 wherein said producing a paper sheet further includesprinting an identifier identifying the template.
 17. The method of claim16 wherein the identifier includes one or more of a bar code, atwo-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font, optical characterrecognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters, non-alphanumericcharacters, and symbols.
 18. The method of claim 12 wherein two or morepossible selections are associated with a question, each question havinga given number of selections that may be made therein, the methodcomprising: comparing the number of selections made to the given numberof selections; and if the number of selections made is less than thegiven number, then providing an indication of an under selection, and ifthe number of selections made exceeds the given number, then providingan indication of an over selection.
 19. The method of claim 18 whereinan indication of an under selection or an over selection or both isprovided, further comprising providing at least an image including anyunder selected selection, any over selected selection, or any underselected selection and any over selected selection.
 20. The method ofclaim 12 wherein the sheet includes an election ballot, an examinationsheet, a test sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheet,a survey sheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lotterysheet, or any combination of the foregoing.
 21. The method of claim 12further comprising: imaging the printed paper sheet; and: (a) storingthe image of the printed paper sheet; or (b) processing the image of theprinted paper sheet for determining the selections from the marksprinted thereon; or (c) processing the image of the printed paper sheetin accordance with the template for determining the selections from themarks printed thereon; or (d) determining the template from anidentifier of the template printed on the printed paper sheet; or (e)publishing selections as determined in accordance with the template fromthe image the printed paper sheet; or (f) any combination of theforegoing steps (a) though (e).
 22. The method of claim 12 wherein themethod is utilized for receiving votes in an election, for gradingand/or marking an examination, for grading and/or marking a test, forgrading and/or marking a school test, for grading and/or marking auniversity test, for grading and/or marking a professional test, forgrading and/or marking an answer sheet, for tallying and/or tabulating asurvey, fur tallying and/or tabulating a questionnaire, for readingand/or tabulating gaming sheets, for reading and/or tabulating races,for reading and/or tabulating lotteries, or any combination of theforegoing.
 23. The method of claim 12 further comprising presentingselections for the session in accordance with the template for thesession, wherein said presenting includes displaying alphanumeric and/orgraphical information, illuminating an illuminated button, activating aBraille device, giving audible voice instructions, and/or reproducingaural information via headphones.
 24. A method for printing selectionson marking sheets comprising: selecting a template for a selectionsession, wherein the template defines a pattern of all mark spaces thatmaybe marked to indicate a selection; receiving selections made using akeyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch, voice recognitionapparatus, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writing recognition interface,or a combination thereof; and then producing a printed marking sheet inaccordance with the selected template by printing marks for theselections made on a printed marking sheet form for the selectionsession or by printing a marking sheet form including marks for theselections made for the selection session; wherein the printed markingsheet includes an identifier for the selected template and includesmarks that are machine readable and that correspond to the selectionsmade.
 25. The method of claim 24 further comprising: reading the marksfor selections printed on the printed marking sheet in accordance withthe selected template; and either: (a) displaying the selections printedon the printed marking sheet in accordance with the selected template;or (b) recording the selections printed on the printed marking sheet inaccordance with the selected template; or (c) displaying and recordingthe selections printed on the printed marking sheet in accordance withthe selected template; or (d) displaying the selections printed on theprinted marking sheet in accordance with the selected template, but notrecording or storing the selections; or (e) publishing the selectionsprinted on the printed marking sheet in accordance with the selectedtemplate; or (f) any combination of the foregoing steps (a) through (e).26. The method of claim 24 wherein said producing a printed markingsheet further includes printing an identifier identifying the selectedtemplate.
 27. The method of claim 24 wherein the identifier includes oneor more of a bar code, a two-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font,optical character recognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters,non-alphanumeric characters, and symbols.
 28. The method of claim 24wherein the marking sheet includes an election ballot, an examinationsheet, a test sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheeta survey sheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lotterysheet, or any combination of the foregoing.
 29. The method of claim 24wherein the method is utilized for receiving votes in an election, forgrading and/or marking an examination, for grading and/or marking atest, for grading and/or marking a school test, for grading and/ormarking a university test, for grading and/or marking a professionaltest, for grading and/or maricing an answer sheet, for tallying and/ortabulating a survey, for tallying and/or tabulating a questionnaire, forreading and/or tabulating gaming sheets, for reading and/or tabulatingraces, for reading and/or tabulating lotteries, or any combination ofthe foregoing.
 30. The method of claim 24 further comprising presentingselections for the session in accordance with the selected template,wherein said presenting includes displaying alphanumeric and/orgraphical information, illuminating an illuminated button, activating aBraille device, giving audible voice instructions, and/or reproducingaural information via headphones.
 31. A system for printing selectionson marking sheets comprising: means for selecting a template for aselection session, wherein the template defines a pattern of all markspaces that may be marked to indicate a selection; an interfaceincluding a keyboard, a touch screen, a button, a switch, voicerecognition apparatus, a Braille keyboard, a pen with writingrecognition interface, or a combination thereof, for receivingselections made; and a printer for producing a printed marking sheet inaccordance with the selected template by printing marks for selectionsmade on a printed marking sheet form for the selection session or byprinting a marking sheet form including marks for selections made forthe selection session; wherein the printed marking sheet includes anidentifier for the selected template and includes printed marks that aremachine readable and that correspond to the selections made.
 32. Thesystem of claim 31 further comprising: a reader for reading the marksfor selections printed on the printed marking sheet in accordance withthe selected template; and a memory for recording the selections readfrom the printed marking sheet in accordance with the selected template.33. The system of claim 31 further comprising: a reader for reading themarks for selections printed on the printed marking sheet in accordancewith the selected template; and either: a display for displaying theselections read from the printed marking sheet in accordance with theselected template; or a display for displaying and a memory forrecording the selections read from the printed marking sheet inaccordance with the selected template; or a display for displaying theselections printed on the printed marking sheet in accordance with theselected template, but not recording or storing the selections.
 34. Thesystem of claim 31 wherein said printer produces the printed markingsheet including a printed identifier identifying the selected template.35. The system of claim 34 wherein the printed identifier includes oneor more of a bar code, a two-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font,optical character recognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters,non-alphanumeric characters, and symbols.
 36. The system of claim 31wherein the marking sheet includes an election ballot, an examinationsheet, a test sheet, an answer sheet, a tally sheet, a tabulation sheet,a survey sheet, a questionnaire, a gaming sheet, a race sheet, a lotterysheet, or any combination of the foregoing.
 37. The system of claim 31wherein the system is utilized for receiving votes m an election, forgrading and/or marking an examination, for grading and/or marking atest, for grading and/or marking a school test, for grading and/ormarking a university test for grading and/or marking a professionaltest, for grading and/or marking an answer sheet, for tallying and/ortabulating a survey, for tallying and/or tabulating a questionnaire, forreading and/or tabulating gaming sheets, for reading and/or tabulatingraces, for reading and/or tabulating lotteries, or any combination ofthe foregoing.
 38. The method of claim 31 wherein said interfaceincludes an alphanumeric display, a graphical information display, anilluminated button, a Braille device, an audible voice instructiondevice, an aural information reproducing device, headphones, or acombination thereof.